CLEVELAND -- Cavaliers forward Jeff Green underwent an MRI on his sore lower back Saturday that revealed no structural damage, according to coach Tyronn Lue.
Green will be held out of the Cavs' lineup as Cleveland finishes its five-game home stand Saturday against the Denver Nuggets and Monday against the Detroit Pistons to give his back a chance to rest.
"We know he's going to be out at least the next two games and then we'll kind of re-evaluate from there," Lue said.
Green missed the Cavs' 129-123 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday with the same back issue.
In four games played since the All-Star break, Green is averaging 7.5 points on 40.7 percent shooting (20 percent from 3) and 2.5 rebounds. Prior to the break, he was averaging 10.7 points on 48.9 percent shooting (32 percent from 3) and 3.4 rebounds.
Lue said that the Cavs will look to the newly acquired duo of Rodney Hood and Jordan Clarkson to replace Green's productivity off the bench.
"I think they're two guys in the second unit that can shoot the basketball, that can create their own shot," Lue said. "They can create for other guys like [Kyle] Korver and [Larry] Nance. So, we just got to feature those other two guys a lot more in this second unit and they got to be aggressive scoring the basketball."
Earlier in the week, Green explained that he was to blame for his back issue -- for not putting in the proper time in the weight room.
"Just tightness," Green said. "That comes with the long season. With what was on my plate, I had a lot to deal with. I wasn't doing the proper things that I had to do to take care of my body. And it affected me, but we have a good training staff here and they're making me do the things I need to [do] to get 100 percent. ... I was so focused on the coverages and so much on the court that, off the court, I wasn't doing what I needed to do to take care of myself."
Green's absence comes at an interesting time for Lue, as he is evaluating what lineups he will be able to trust in the postseason. Lue's 10-man rotation will get mighty crowded when Kevin Love returns from a broken left hand sometime in the next two to four weeks. Green is in danger of having his role reduced in the playoffs, when Lue typically sticks to a nine-man rotation.
"That's always the reason I'm playing different guys at the end of games, just to kind of see who can fit that role and who can fill that void of pressure situations, pressure moments," Lue said of his recent rotations. "And, you know, they're trying to learn me -- I'm trying to learn those guys also. So guys are playing different positions, different roles, different times of the game just so I can figure out who you can go to in those situations. So it's going to be a learning process, and we'll just see when the playoffs get here."