INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Cavaliers' backcourt took another hit on Friday when the team learned that Delonte West broke his left ring finger in a victory over the Lakers.
West became the second Cleveland point guard to be injured this week when he injured his shooting hand Thursday night. He was starting in place of Mo Williams, who could miss up to six weeks after spraining his left shoulder in a game Tuesday against Toronto.
The team said West will miss Saturday's game against Oklahoma City, but does not know how long he will be sidelined. Doctors need a few days for the swelling to go down before they can complete their evaluation.
West fractured his finger while scrambling after a loose ball in the fourth quarter of Cleveland's 93-87 win, the Cavs' second over the defending NBA champions in less than a month.
Daniel Gibson, whose minutes have been cut lately, will take over point guard duties until West returns. Gibson normally runs the point for Cleveland's scout team.
"The last couple weeks, I've been hoping to catch some minutes and it looks like now I got my wish," Gibson said. "I just want to go out there and have fun. That's going to be my biggest thing, just enjoy the moment. You get these opportunities and when they come you just want to take advantage of them."
Cavs coach Mike Brown said general manager Danny Ferry and his staff were talking about signing another point guard. In the meantime, Gibson will get help from LeBron James and Anthony Parker.
"We may have to do it by committee," said Brown, who said there are other factors to consider. "One, is how long is he [West] going to be out for? The second one is, knock on wood, what if Gib goes down? Nobody thought that Delonte would go down in the game after Mo.
"We have capable ballhandlers."
West's start on Thursday was his first this season. He scored just three points, but added four rebounds, three assists and two blocks in nearly 43 minutes. He also guarded Kobe Bryant down the stretch, and with some double-team help, did a decent job on the Lakers' superstar.
"The way the game went was kind of how Delonte's game is," said Brown. "He's a tough, take-what-the-defense-gives-you type of guy. That's how we play and that's what you like. He stepped up and hit a big 3 for us late in the game. I was a little worried because I didn't want to play him too many minutes but I got him just enough rest in the first half that I ran him the whole second half.
"He played a good game for us."