CLEVELAND -- Medical tests on Mark Price Monday confirmed the Cleveland point guard has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Team physician Dr. Robert Dimeff said Price would undergo surgery Tuesday at the Cleveland Clinic and will be out for the rest of the season.
Price, 26, was injured Friday night in the third quarter of a victory at Atlanta when he dove into the statistician's table trying to retrieve a loose ball.
At first it was announced that Price had just hyperextended his knee, but the club announced Saturday night after a 120-85 loss to Chicago that Price had torn the ligament. The injury is similar to those suffered by Ron Harper, Bernard King, and Danny Manning.
Cleveland does not have a quality backup point guard. Last year Price missed nine games and the Cavs lost eight of them.
'It was a devastating loss, but we are just going to have to deal with the fact he is out,' said General Manager Wayne Embry. 'We are not going to throw in the towel. We got through some rough times last season. No one in this organization is a quitter.'
The Cavaliers will have to sign another guard, but who they will be able to obtain is not yet certain. Under the salary cap rules, the Cavs cannot pay anyone who joins the team more than half of Price's $1.4 million salary.
The names that have surfaced as possible replacements include Continental Basketball Association players Cory Gaines, Eddie Hughes, and Boo Harvey.
'Whatever we do we are not going to replace Mark Price,' Embry said. 'He's an All-Star, one of the top five or six point guards in the league.'
