CLEVELAND -- Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas missed his fifth
straight game with a strained back Monday night and the team has no
timetable for his return.
While there apparently has been some progress in Ilgauskas'
recovery, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown doesn't know when his 7-foot-3
center will be back.
"He's done well in the past week, but in terms of beyond that,
I don't know," Brown said.
Ilgauskas, in his 10th NBA season, is averaging 13.5 points and
9.6 rebounds.
Since being plagued by foot injuries early in his career, the
32-year-old Ilgauskas has been one of the most durable players in
the league the past five seasons. He played 81 games in both the
2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons, and 78 games in each of the last three
seasons.
The Cavaliers, who were 36-27 going into Monday night's game
against Portland, have been dealing with injuries all season.
Guards Sasha Pavlovic (sprained left foot) and Daniel Gibson
(sprained left ankle) are also out with injuries.
Pavlovic, who hasn't played since Jan. 23, went through a full
practice Sunday for the first time since being injured. Because of
the injury and a contract holdout that dragged into the start of
the season, he has only played in 38 games, averaging 7.3 points.
Gibson, who has made 48 percent of his 3-point attempts, has
missed the last 10 games. He's averaging 11.5 points.
The injuries, along with last month's trade that added Ben
Wallace, Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West, have
challenged Cleveland's continuity, but the Cavs still have the
fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference.
"We've been playing good, but we can't find out how good we are
until we're injury-free," Cavaliers forward LeBron James said.