WALTHAM, Mass. -- Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving underwent successful surgery to remove two screws from his left knee Saturday, the team announced.
"The surgery went exactly as planned, and we expect Kyrie to be fully healthy for training camp in the fall," Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said in a statement.
The Celtics previously indicated a recovery of four to five months for Irving.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens revealed Friday that, after having a tension wire removed in what the team termed a "minimally invasive" surgery last month, Irving had experienced immediate relief and there was a hope that he would be back near the start of the playoffs.
Instead, pathology tests revealed the bacterial infection in the knee. Irving moved quickly to have the screws removed, shifting his focus to the 2018-19 season.
The second surgery came as a surprise to Irving's teammates.
"I was shocked [about the second surgery]. I mean, you still had the hope that he was going to be able to come back this season," Celtics All-Star Al Horford said Saturday. "But now we're at the point that we just have to look forward, look ahead and, obviously, wish Ky a speedy recovery. And for our group, what we have now, we have to look forward. We can't dwell on the past."
How does Irving's absence change things for the Celtics?
"Obviously, it makes it more difficult," Horford said. "Kyrie is the leader of this team, and we went with him and now we have to find ways to do it without him. We've been playing good basketball, and I believe that this group will -- we have a group that's hungry and that wants to keep getting better. And I think that when you have a group that wants to keep getting better, it's always a positive."
The Celtics are locked in to the No. 2 seed in the East but still have three potential first-round playoff opponents in the Miami Heat, Washington Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks.
Celtics forward Marcus Morris said the team doesn't like the suggestion that those squads should be jockeying to draw injury-riddled Boston.
"This team, we're resilient," he said. "Everybody on this team is ready to compete. We all feel disrespected. Kyrie, Marcus [Smart], [Daniel] Theis, all those [injured] guys are major for our team, but they're not here, so we still have to approach the game as if we're gonna win and get as far as we can."