INDEPENDENCE, Ohio – With his left arm gingerly tucked close to his side, Daniel Gibson spent some time after practice Thursday watching some of his teammates and coaches play in an informal pickup game.

For the foreseeable future, that’s all the Cavaliers’ sharpshooter is going to be able to do: watch and cheer.

An MRI at the Cleveland Clinic revealed that Gibson suffered a separated shoulder in the fourth quarter of the Cavs’ Game 5 loss to the Boston Celtics.

The injury occurred when he was knocked to the floor while chasing a loose ball on the baseline.

He’s out at least a week and maybe more, but surely the rest of the conference semifinal series, including tonight’s Game 6 at Quicken Loans Arena as the Cavs face elimination for the first time in the 2008 playoffs.

“It’s kind of the tale of our season; another guy goes down,” LeBron James said. “It’s not good to see a guy that key to your team in a suit.”

The Cavs, and Gibson, have been plagued by injuries all season. This is the fourth time he has had to go on the inactive list with a different ailment – everything from a bad wisdom tooth to a severe high-ankle sprain.

Though he has been inconsistent at times, Gibson’s rediscovery of the rhythm in his jumper has been vital to the Cavs in several playoff games. After struggling when he returned from the ankle injury in March, Gibson was shooting 45 percent on 3-pointers in the playoffs and made two key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter of Game 4 to help the Cavs win.

He has not been as effective against the Celtics, averaging 5.6 points on 39 percent shooting, as he was in the first round against the Washington Wizards, when he shot 50 percent from 3-point range and averaged 11.8 points.

“He’s been good for us as of late, so to have him go down is tough,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said. “You just have to find a way. The next guy has got to step up.”

Brown said he had not decided who would get Gibson’s minutes but hinted he might give extended minutes to Delonte West and Sasha Pavlovic. With no room for error in what amounts to a one-game season for the Cavs, there is also a chance he could go to Devin Brown or Damon Jones, neither of whom have played a role in the series.

“It can be tough to keep morale up, but we’re a veteran ballclub and we have to bounce back,” James said. “Somebody is going to have to step up.”

Diminished Z

As the Cavs looked back at what went wrong in Game 5, they focused on how the Celtics have made adjustments to limit Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

After he averaged 17.7 points on 55 percent shooting in the series’ first three games, Ilgauskas has been taken out of the attack, averaging 7.5 points on 33 percent shooting in the past two games.

On Wednesday, he managed only five shots and six points. The Celtics have been jumping out on pick-and-rolls to deny him the ball as he sets up mid-range jumpers. They have also been fronting him in the post to deny him getting position. In addition, veteran P.J. Brown has gotten more time guarding him instead of smaller defenders, like Leon Powe, who were being used earlier in the series and whom Ilgauskas exploited.

“It’s been hard because they’ve been paying attention and putting two or three people around me,” Ilgauskas said. “I really can’t get my shot off. We have some plays in the arsenal that will give more space and make it harder to rotate.”

The Cavs might look to go to a few more of those plays, especially some isolations for Ilgauskas in the post.

“We’re going to have to find a way to get Z the ball because we need his offensive power,” James said.

Dribbles

The Cavs are 4-1 in Game 6s in the past three seasons and 4-1 at home this postseason. However, they are 0-2 in elimination games in the past two seasons. … James is six assists shy of passing Mark Price’s franchise career playoff record of 327. Ilgauskas passed Price to take the lead in playoff games played Wednesday. … Delonte West’s knees were covered in floor burns Thursday after he spent much of Game 5 on the floor at the end of hard fouls from the Celtics. He got to the foul line 13 times and said he’s no worse for the wear. “They can break my legs,” West said, “but they can’t break my heart.”

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(c) 2008, Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio).

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AP-NY-05-15-08 2115EDT