J.R. Smith fractured his right thumb and will need surgery to correct it, the Cavs announced. No timeline for return will be established until after surgery, but it's likely Smith will miss at least a month.
Smith injured the thumb in Tuesday's overtime win at the Milwaukee Bucks, and as a result the Cavs' injury/unusable list is growing faster than they'd like. They're already carrying two dead roster spots with Mo Williams (retirement) and Chris Andersen (torn ACL). Now Smith has at least temporarily joined them.
In the short term, the Cavs could be severely short-handed for Wednesday's rematch with the Bucks. Coach Tyronn Lue wasn't sure whether LeBron James and Kyrie Irving will be available after each played over 40 minutes Tuesday. Kevin Love missed the game with a knee injury and his status for Wednesday remains questionable.
DeAndre Liggins is likely to step into the starting lineup in place of Smith because Lue has kept Iman Shumpert on the bench to serve as the pseudo backup point guard.
Smith has remained relatively healthy throughout his career. He has played in at least 70 games in each of the last eight full NBA seasons. This is his first significant in-season injury since 2007, when he missed two weeks following arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
