The Boston Celtics were dealt with a huge blow earlier this week, as it was revealed Kyrie Irving would miss the rest of the season, as well as the playoffs, due to his ongoing knee problem that has been lingering since last season's postseason.

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens revealed on Friday that, after having a tension wire removed in surgery last month, there was a strong belief that he would be back near the start of the playoffs for the franchise.

However, pathology tests revealed the bacterial infection in the knee, so Irving moved quickly to have the screws removed with a second surgery, ruling him out for the rest of the season and the playoffs.

Celtics general manager said in a statement about Irving on the team's website: "The surgery went exactly as planned, and we expect Kyrie to be fully healthy for training camp in the fall."

Irving underwent successful surgery to remove two screws from his left knee on Saturday, but this surgery came as a surprise to his teammates, as Al Horford thought the point guard was returning to the team this season.

Horford said to ESPN: "I was shocked [about the second surgery]. I mean, you still had the hope that he was going to be able to come back this season. But now we're at the point that we just have to look forward, look ahead and, obviously, wish Ky a speedy recovery. And for our group, what we have now, we have to look forward. We can't dwell on the past."

Horford added as well that while Irving not being in the team for the playoffs is a loss, the team is still hungry to do well despite their star players missing.

He said: "Obviously, it makes it more difficult. Kyrie is the leader of this team, and we went with him and now we have to find ways to do it without him. We've been playing good basketball, and I believe that this group will -- we have a group that's hungry and that wants to keep getting better. And I think that when you have a group that wants to keep getting better, it's always a positive."

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