When the Boston Celtics took the floor against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving was out of the lineup for the fifth-straight game.Before the recent stretch of absences, Irving missed seven games earlier in the year and exited early in a couple contests as well. Most of the time, his ailing knee was the root cause.Averaging 24.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 5.1 assists per contest in his first season with the historic club, there’s no denying that Irving is Boston’s most important player. Not only is he the team’s go-to scorer, but the entire offense runs through him.Unfortunately, the Celtics will have to move forward without Irving.Based on the news that was announced by the team on Friday, a timetable for his return is now completely up in the air.Via ESPN’s Chris Forsberg, Irving will undergo minimally-invasive knee surgery on Saturday in an effort to alleviate the soreness he’s been dealing with. After the procedure is over, the team will follow up with more information.It’s worth noting that his injured knee is the same one that required surgery after the 2015 NBA Finals. Earlier this season, Danny Ainge made headlines when he admitted that Irving might need additional surgery on the knee in a future offseason. Therefore, it seems like the All-Star point guard is going under the knife a bit sooner than expected.Tony Massarotti of Boston’s 98.5 The Sports Hub reported that Irving might need to have some of the screws in his knee removed. If that’s the case, his sources told him that Irving might have a hard time returning this season.

Since the Celtics are firmly in second place in the Eastern Conference, they are in solid shape in terms of the standings and earning home-court advantage in the first couple rounds of the playoffs. However, there’s no guarantee that the team will be able to win a best-of-seven series without their best player. Therefore, if Irving is ruled out for the rest of the season, it will be a gigantic blow to Boston’s overall chances to win the East and therefore a massive boost to the Toronto Raptors and the surging Cleveland Cavaliers.

In the meantime, coach Brad Stevens will continue to rely on Terry Rozier at the point.

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