NBA Notebook | Cavs' Zydrunas Ilgauskas out 3 to 4 weeks

CLEVELAND — Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas could miss up to a month after suffering a small fracture when he twisted his left ankle last month.

Ilgauskas sprained his ankle during a Dec. 10 game at Philadelphia, when he tried to block former teammate Donyell Marshall's shot and landed on the Sixers forward's foot. Tests at the time showed only a sprain, and Ilgauskas returned after missing just three games.

But he has been bothered by pain and stiffness since returning, and an MRI taken Friday revealed that Ilgauskas, who missed two full seasons earlier in his career with foot problems, chipped the talus bone in his ankle.

The 7-foot-3 Ilgauskas said he's likely to be "out three to four weeks, but we really don't know."

The Cavaliers' third-leading scorer at 13.8 points per game, Ilgauskas said the pins and screws in his foot from a restructuring operation were not affected by the injury.

"If anything," he said, "the MRI showed that all the previous foot surgeries, everything looks beautiful and all the bones are healed. That was the positive."

Anderson Varejao replaced Ilgauskas in the starting lineup Friday against Chicago. The Cavs beat the Bulls to remain the NBA's only unbeaten team at home with a 17-game winning streak on their home floor, and at 27-5 are off to the best start in franchise history.

"It's never a good time to do it," Ilgauskas said. "But it's better now that during the playoffs."

Notes

• Phoenix recalled swingman Alando Tucker from the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League.

• The NBA did not take any action against New Jersey guard Vince Carter or a veteran official who used the word "boy" during a confrontation with the eight-time All Star during a game Wednesday night in Detroit.

Referee Derrick Stafford called two quick technicals on Carter after he argued an out-of-bounds call in the second quarter of the Pistons' 83-75 victory. A furious Carter went after the official following his ejection and seemed to bump Stafford. Carter had to be held back by teammates.

The league said Stafford "expressed regret" for his word choice, and "we are persuaded that he did not use it with the intention of demeaning Vince."