Cleveland Cavaliers v Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova (8) looks for his shot as Chicago Bulls guard Aaron Brooks (0) defends in a game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls at Quicken Loans Arena.

(Thomas Ondrey)

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio - Matthew Dellavedova summed up the bumps and bruises he's played with this season in one word.

"Niggles."

Niggles?

"I don't know what the translation is for that, sorry," Dellavedova said Friday. "I'll try to keep speaking American."

Dellavedova, the native Australian and surprising glue that holds the Cavs bench together, played for the first time Thursday in Cleveland's 106-95 win over the Chicago Bulls after missing the previous five games because of a left hamstring injury.

He scored seven points and contributed one assist in about 16 1/2 minutes.

"Just good having Delly back on the floor," Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. "He came to me today and said it's just great to get back out there on the floor. When you have a hamstring like that it's tough to kind of gauge where you're at. It's tough to try to push it at certain times, but he said it felt great and that's a good thing for us to hear."

Here's why Lue loves having Dellavedova, the undrafted guard out of St. Mary's College who's in his third season. For starters, he's missed six games due to injury, and the Cavs are 3-3 in those games.

Dellavedova is easily enjoying a career year, with averages of 8.2 points and 4.3 assists. He's tied for 4th in the NBA among all bench players in assists, and is 7th in assist-to-turnover ration at 3.07. Dellavedova also ranks 7th in the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting .430.

Much of Dellavedova's production has come while dealing with some sort of minor injury, or "niggle." His back is constantly wrapped in heat, and he dealt with a calf issue. The sore left hamstring lingered for up to two weeks before it became too much, forcing him out of the lineup Feb. 3.

"I've probably been dealing with it for a few weeks and it kind of progressively got worse and I tried to warm up in Charlotte (Feb. 3) and couldn't go," Dellavedova said. "And then I thought I'd be good to go the next game and it's taken (two weeks since then). You're always optimistic as a player that you'll be able to come back straight away but the doctors and training staff thought it would be a bit longer and they were right."