Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas admitted he was more than a little lonely while his teammates were on the West Coast last week. Trying to come back from his sprained left ankle in time for Thursday's game at Orlando against All-Star center Dwight Howard, the only guy he could work out against was Cavs General Manager Danny Ferry.
"Obviously, playing against Danny one-on-one is not the same as playing Dwight Howard," a laughing Ilgauskas said Monday after practice -- his first since aggravating the injury on Dec. 30 at Miami. "But he's dirty, so he made me work."
Asked who won, Ilgauskas laughed again and said: "We didn't keep score, but he fouled out. A lot."
Ilgauskas said he went through the entire practice Monday -- fast-break drills, a lot of shooting, two or three defensive drills, four-on-four transition drills and then extra shooting.
"It wasn't a really hard practice," he said, "but it was enough."
Ilgauskas got back on the court last Tuesday and increased his workload every day through Saturday. He said he was a little sore after Monday's workout and has to work on his timing and conditioning. It did not sound as if he'd be ready for tonight's game against Sacramento at The Q.
"It was just good to get some work in," he said. "This is the first time I shot since the Miami game, or even touched a basketball.
"I missed not playing. I missed the guys. I've been home all this time, so I missed the camaraderie. It has been frustrating.
"So more than anything, I'm happy to get a sweat in, starting playing and be around the guys. I missed it a lot."
Ilgauskas initially sprained the ankle defending a shot by former Cav Donyell Marshall at Philadelphia on Dec. 10. He tried to come back at Denver on Dec. 19, but the ankle really hurt the next day and wasn't getting better. Eventually, it was discovered he had chipped a bone, so the Cavs shut him down for almost four weeks.
The injury was a lot worse than we thought initially," Ilgauskas said. "These things linger. The tendon that I messed up just takes time to heal. It's different for every person and every player. So we took some time off to let it calm down, and the MRI showed the swelling went away. I might deal with some soreness or discomfort throughout the season just because of all the minutes. But I was assured eventually everything will go away and I'll be back to normal. Now it's just a matter of getting into basketball shape."
His coaches and teammates were thrilled to have him back.
"It's always good to get your guys back on the court," LeBron James said. "It's good for Z. I know he missed us and missed being out on the court. It was good having the big fella out there on the court today."
Added Mo Williams, "The quicker we can get him back into the rhythm of things and into game shape, the better."
Coach Mike Brown said there was no specific timetable for Ilgauskas' return.
"I don't know when he'll be back in the lineup yet," the coach said. "He had a nice practice. It was good to see him out there."
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