It was easy to see over the last couple of weeks that Zydrunas Ilgauskas' ankle wasn't right. Now the Cavaliers have firm evidence.
Concerned his left ankle sprain was not improving, Ilgauskas underwent another x-ray and MRI on Friday and learned he had chipped a bone in the back of the ankle. The team is purposely not setting an exact timetable, but the injury will likely keep him off the floor for a month.
"I played on it but it didn't feel good," Ilgauskas said. "I wasn't the player I should be."
Ilgauskas originally suffered the injury Dec. 10 in Philadelphia when he landed on former teammate Donyell Marshall's foot attempting to block a shot. He missed three games and returned to score 23 points Dec. 19 in Denver, making it appear as if it wasn't serious.
But the morning after the game he started feeling soreness and his recovery soon stalled. It showed on the court as he struggled to rebound and move. The Cavs attempted to deal with it by holding him out of practices but it did not progress as a normal sprain should.
It convinced him to get it checked again and the bone chip was discovered. The positive news for the team was the injury does not affect the structure of his foot, which was rebuilt nearly eight years ago after multiple breaks.
"One thing we don't want to do is rush it," Ilgauskas said. "We'll take it weekly and see how it goes; we really don't know."
Though it is still early in the season, it does not come at a great time in the schedule. Next week the Cavs begin a stretch of eight of 11 games on the road and face top-flight opponents in the Celtics, Hornets, Lakers, Trail Blazers, Magic, and Pistons.
The Cavs will use Anderson Varejao as their starting center and rely on rookie J.J. Hickson and veteran Lorenzen Wright more.