CLEVELAND _ Kyrie Irving's honesty planted another seed of doubt.
Even before Friday night's baffling home loss to the short-handed Atlanta Hawks, there were serious concerns about the Cavaliers' chances of repeating as NBA champions.
Their defensive deficiencies. Their maddening flip-the-switch mentality that might fail them at the most inopportune moment. The seemingly endless string of injuries. LeBron James playing the second-most minutes in the league. Infighting behind closed doors that judging from their comments has damaged their tight bond from a year ago.
Then the Cavs' locker room opened, and Irving added another.
The All-Star guard admitted that Thursday's off day was a "terrible day" for him and his left knee.
In a matter of seconds, the aforementioned issues were bumped down the worry list.
The Cavs need a healthy team, especially James and Irving, to capture another title. The fact that Irving is still having problems two months shy of two years after fracturing his left kneecap in Game 1 of the 2015 NBA Finals is sobering.
"It was one of those days," he said. "Guys that have had knee surgery before understand that. I did my best all of yesterday just trying to recover ... so I had a great chance of playing at a high level, and then after halftime it just f------ flared up. Excuse my language, sorry."
More than anything else he said, the expletive sounded the alarm on Irving's level of frustration.
There have been hints of Irving's lingering problems before. He sat out March 18 in Los Angeles against the Clippers because the knee tightened up in the fourth quarter of the previous game against the Utah Jazz. After the victory over the Jazz, Irving admitted the knee had been "kind of sore" for the previous 48 hours.
But for the most part, Irving had kept what he's been dealing with under wraps.
"It's never easy, even the year after, just to realize that you have plates and screws in your knee and stuff like that," he said. "I don't want it to feel sore any more, but it's just the realization of it. I'm doing everything possible to take care of my body, I've got a clear conscience with that. But also understand that sometimes it's gonna hurt. And I gotta be able to deal with it."
Hearing that, it was hard to comprehend how Irving came of age before our eyes in the 2016 Finals. He averaged 25.2 points in 21 postseason games, 5.6 points above his 2015-16 season average and 6.2 points better than in the 2015 postseason before he was hurt.
The knee was an issue before Irving collapsed in the final two minutes of an overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors on June 4, 2015. Irving had been diagnosed with tendinitis during the second round against the Chicago Bulls.
On Friday night, one had to wonder how long that knee will hold up, even though Irving just turned 25 last month.
Perhaps the spacing of games in the playoffs will give Irving's knee more time to recover. Perhaps he's feeling the effects of a grueling March, when the Cavs played 12 out of 17 games on the road. Perhaps Irving's average of 34.9 minutes per game, tied for 15th in the league going into Saturday, is catching up to him.
Before facing the Hawks, coach Tyronn Lue said he planned to play Irving and James until the Cavs clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference. That was before they lost to a team that rested all its starters, essentially nullifying the Cavs' blowout of the second-place Celtics in Boston on Wednesday. That was before Irving sat on the bench with 1:47 left in the third quarter holding his knee, forcing him to head to the locker room. That was before Irving high-stepped to the beat of the Q Stix drum corps apparently trying to loosen up before returning with 7:11 remaining, then managed just two points in the fourth quarter.
With three regular-season games left _ at Atlanta on Sunday, at Miami on Monday and at home against Toronto on Wednesday _ the Cavs should abandon their chase of the top seed. Or at least end Irving's pursuit of it.
"I don't know, I've got to see how they feel," Lue said of James and Irving after the Hawks game.
Lue should think back to Game 7 of the 2016 Finals against the Warriors and remember how Irving's 12 points in the third quarter helped the Cavs rally from a seven-point halftime deficit. (When I re-watched it, Irving's performance was what struck me most.) Lue should fixate on "The Shot," Irving's pull-up 3-pointer with 53 seconds remaining. Lue should remind himself that Irving is the player he wants taking the big 3s and shooting free throws when a playoff game is on the line.
Irving's admission of a "terrible" Thursday was a stark reminder that the No. 1 seed is not what matters most. As we found out Friday night, Irving's status _ and with it the Cavs' title defense _ might be more precarious than we realized.
