Boston Celtics star point guard Kyrie Irving is dealing with rib soreness and won't travel with the team to Cleveland for Saturday night's preseason finale against the Cavs. The All-Star has taken a few hits in practice and is feeling discomfort in his ribs.

Irving sat out the Celtics' previous preseason game as well. He underwent season-ending knee surgery in April and also had a second procedure to remove screws which were placed in his knee in 2015.

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Irving averaged 24.4 points and 5.1 assists in 60 regular season-games with the Celtics last season, shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 40.8 percent from beyond the arc. The explosive scorer is set to make $20.1 million in 2018-19 and can become an unrestricted free agent in 2019 if he declines his player-option for the 2019-20 season, something he is expected to do since more money is available to Irving on the open market.

Irving played the first seven years of his career with the Cavs. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 Draft out of Duke. The 26-year-old won a championship in 2016 with LeBron James and Kevin Love, but requested a trade in the summer of 2017. Irving got tired of living in the shadow of James and wanted to a fresh start elsewhere.

The Celtics are wise to play it safe with Irving, not just in the preseason, but in the regular-season as well. It's a long, grueling year and Irving has never played more than 75 games in a season due to injuries.