Stellar second-year point guard Kyrie Irving "a couple weeks away" from returning to contract drills in practice, according to Bob Finnan of the News-Herald. Irving has been out since Nov 17 with a hairline fracture in his left index finger, with the doctors initial prognosis being four weeks until he could return.

The 2011 No. 1 overall pick out of Duke, Irving was a sensation as a rookie in the lockout-shortened 2012 season, scoring 18.5 points per game and averaging 5.4 assists to win the NBA's Rookie of the Year Award. The second-year point guard has built on his first-year totals this season, averaging 22.2 points and 5.9 assists per game before the injury.

Cleveland has struggled since Irving went down, just 2-6 in games he has missed. Compounding the absence of Irving is an injury to shooting guard Dion Waiters. In the mean time Daniel Gibson and Alonzo Gee have been holding up the backcourt for the Cavaliers.