CLEVELAND, OH. – Word finally came down on LeBron James’ injury to his elbow and as expected, the Cleveland 
Cavaliers superstar will take the court on Saturday for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series against the Boston Celtics.LeBron practiced left-handed layups and short jumpers at his team’s practice today after being checked out by team docs Wednesday night in Cleveland. An MRI and X-rays were performed and the diagnosis is said to be a bone bruise accompanied by a strain.
“The best thing about it is there’s no structural damage. The docs have given me clearance that I can’t hurt it worse,” James said.
Although he’s been given the green light to play, James will continue receiving daily treatment and the team has scheduled another MRI for next week.
“We’re just being very [cautious] right now,” James said. “I didn’t do much shooting [today].”
The Cavs moved into this next round of the NBA Playoffs after they eliminated the Chicago Bulls in 5 games of a best-of-seven. Finishing that series in short fashion is exactly what the Cavaliers needed so James will be required to play less games over the stretch of these playoffs.
Knocking off the Celtics may not as easy. Many are expecting this to be a knock-down drag-out fight between these two hungry teams. The Celtics are out to prove they weren’t one-time wonders while the Cavs are still searching for their first title with James.
“If I am limited during the [Celtics] game, then I’ll be smart about it,” James said. “That’s what I was able to do in Game 5 [against Chicago]. I was very limited in shooting long-range shots, so I started going to the hole in the fourth quarter.”
With this injury limiting LeBron’s play, don’t expect a large amount of highlight-reel slam dunks until the elbow finds a way to work itself back closer to normal.
NOTE: ESPN First & Ten analyst Skip Bayless stopped just short of accusing LeBron of over exaggerating about his injury after he elected to shoot a free throw left-handed when the Chicago game was out of reach.
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