Kyle Korver is turning 37 on Saturday but he won’t celebrate it by playing against the Chicago Bulls. Korver left the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com and won’t be back in time for the game on Saturday night.
Missing Korver is going to really hurt the Cavs as the had just moved into the starting lineup, and was playing really well. Over the last three games, he was averaging 17 points and shooting better than 65 percent from the field.
The Cavs were already going to be shorthanded before the news came out about Korver. Rodney Hood, Larry Nance Jr., Tristan Thompson, Cedi Osman, and Kevin Love will also be out with a variety of injuries.
There will be no morning shootaround on Saturday because of the lack of bodies, so the starting lineup for the day’s game probably won’t be announced until the team arrives at the United Center.
If the Cavs don’t sign anyone, they will only have ten healthy bodies for this game and two of the guys, John Holland and London Perrantes, are on a two-way contract.
This is a huge game for the Cavs as they fight for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference. They currently have a 39-29 record which is good enough for fourth place in the standings. They are only 3.5 games above the Miami Heat though who sit in the eighth and final playoff spot.
If they continue to struggle to lose games, they probably won’t miss out on the playoffs, but they could really drop down the standings, and make the road to the finals that much harder.