CLEVELAND — Cavaliers rookie guard Kyrie Irving is being evaluated at the Cleveland Clinic as he recovers from a concussion.

Irving missed his first game of the season Wednesday night with the concussion. He was kept out after the team diagnosed him with the head injury, which he sustained Tuesday night in Miami when he was accidentally kneed in the head by the Heat’s Dwyane Wade.

Irving complained of a headache while warming up before Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Cavs coach Byron Scott said.

Irving remained in the locker room as his teammates won without him. Ramon Sessions started for Irving and scored a season-high 24 points with 13 assists.

There is no timetable for Irving’s return.

The Cavaliers host Milwaukee on Friday and Philadelphia on Saturday.

Kyrie Injury Update: Irving (concussion) was a last-minute scratch after developing a worsening headache during pregame warmups.

Kyrie was kneed in the head Tuesday in a game at Miami, when he fell onto the leg of Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade.

Team officials said Irving will be listed as “day-to-day” and his condition will be updated as appropriate.

Next: Friday at home vs. Milwaukee

ROOKIES AND SOPHOMORES WILL COMPRISE POOL TO BE MIXED TOGETHER ON TEAMS FOR FIRST TIME

CLEVELAND – Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving and forward Tristan Thompson were selected to participate in the 2012 BBVA Rising Stars Challenge to be held on Friday, Feb. 24 in Orlando during NBA All-Star Weekend 2012, the NBA announced today. The participants in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge were selected by the NBA’s assistant coaches, with each team submitting one ballot.

Irving, the number one overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, currently leads all rookies in scoring (18.0) and field goal percentage (.492) while ranking second in assists (5.1) and free throw percentage (.830) and third in three-point field goal percentage (.413) in 29.8 minutes per game through 23 games. He was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in the months of December and January.

The 19-year-old point guard has topped the 20-point mark 11 times and dished out five or more assists in 14 games. He scored a career-best 32 points, including 21 in the fourth quarter, on Jan. 27^th against New Jersey and on Jan. 29^th, made the game-winning layup against Boston while posting game highs in points (23) and assists (6).

Thompson, the fourth overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, has played in 18 games for the Cavs this season, averaging 7.1 points on .458 shooting, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks  in 17.3 minutes per game. Among all rookies, he currently ranks first in the league in offensive rebounds (1.9), third in blocks (1.1) and sixth in total rebounds (4.7) per game.

He came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points and pulled down a career-high nine rebounds (five offensive) in 24 minutes against the Bobcats on Jan. 3. His five offensive rebounds were, at the time, the most by a rookie this season and his nine total rebounds were, at the time, tied for the rookie-high. Thompson also scored a career-high tying 16 points on 6-7 (.857) shooting and added five rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench against Atlanta on Jan. 21.

Irving and Thompson become the first pair of Cavaliers rookies to participate in the rookie challenge since 2003 when Carlos Boozer and Dajuan Wagner represented Cleveland.  They also become the first Cavaliers to be selected to the rookie challenge since 2008 when Daniel Gibson won MVP honors as a sophomore in the game.

Irving and Thompson are joined by fellow first-year players MarShon Brooks (New Jersey Nets), Brandon Knight (Detroit Pistons), Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio Spurs), Markieff Morris (Phoenix Suns), Ricky Rubio (Minnesota Timberwolves), Kemba Walker (Charlotte Bobcats), and Derrick Williams (Minnesota Timberwolves).

Making up the sophomore class are DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings), Landry Fields (New York Knicks), Paul George (Indiana Pacers), Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers), Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz), Greg Monroe (Detroit Pistons), Tiago Splitter (San Antonio Spurs), Evan Turner (Philadelphia 76ers), and John Wall (Washington Wizards).

This year, a new format is being implemented to a game that has historically featured NBA rookies facing off against sophomores. For the first time, rookies and sophomores will be mixed together on teams. TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal will serve as the general managers of the two opposing teams – TEAM CHUCK and TEAM SHAQ – each with nine man rosters, drafted from the aforementioned pool. TNT’s Kenny Smith will serve as the honorary Commissioner and Ernie Johnson will host the live BBVA Rising Stars Challenge Draft on Thursday, Feb. 16, on NBA TV at 7 p.m. ET.

The BBVA Rising Stars Challenge will be televised live nationally on February 24^th on TNT at 9 p.m. ET and also will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio, while NBA.com will make live audio available to fans in multiple languages. NBA games are broadcast to 215 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.

Also, guard Anthony Parker (back) and rookie forward Tristan Thompson (ankle) will not make the trip to South Beach.

Gibson, who participated in all of today’s practice, reported discomfort in his neck in a follow-up examination. As a precaution, it was decided that he would not travel with the team to Miami.

Thompson played in five games (three starts) this season, averaging 3.6 points on .292 shooting, 1.0 rebound and 1.4 assists in 19.0 minutes per game.

The Cavaliers roster now stands at 14.

The Cavs will take on Dwight Howard as a member of the Magic for possibly the last time, as he has been the talk of a lot of trade rumors. The Magic broke their four-game losing streak Wednesday, but there’s still plenty of chatter that Howard will be moved before the trade deadline.

Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao, who was outstanding against Boston putting up a 20-20 game Tuesday, knows that facing Howard won’t be easy.

“It’s going to be a tough game, a physical game,” Varejao said. “I have to be physical against him in trying to take his air space away and play hard against him.”

At 8-12, the Cavaliers will enter the game battling a few injuries. The guard position will be without both Daniel Gibson and Anthony Parker. Rookie forward Tristan Thompson is a third player that stayed in Cleveland after injuring his left ankle in the second quarter against Boston.

Undrafted rookie guard Mychel Thompson will make his second start at the two spot in the Cavaliers lineup, and has surprised as he’s played pretty well in the two games since not seeing any playing time.

The Magic are 13-9, and have totally beat up the Cavs lately, winning their last seven games against Cleveland. Orlando broke a four-game losing streak on Wednesday when they beat the Washington Wizards 109-103.

The Magic had 11 turnovers in the first half and had to hold late against possibly the worst team in the NBA. Howard had 23 points and 18 rebounds, while Hedo Turkoglu scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half.

“It’s frustrating to me as a coach because I can’t figure out what we’re doing wrong,” Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said after the win.

Tonight, if they can hold Howard in check, the Cavs have a good shot to get to 10 wins already 22 games into the season.

• Guard Daniel Gibson – Soft Tissue Infection in Neck – Not With Team – OUT

• Guard Anthony Parker – Low Back Strain – Not With Team – OUT

• Forward Tristan Thompson – Left Ankle Sprain – Not With Team – OUT

CLEVELAND – Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving was named today as the NBA’s Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in the months of December and January.

Irving averaged 18.1 points on .511 shooting, 3.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 28.8 minutes per game. During the month, he ranked 1st  in scoring, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, free throw percentage and  assists among  Eastern Conference rookies. Irving scored 20 or more points in 10 of 20 games and shot at least .500 from the field 12 times in games played in December and January.

Irving scored 20 points on 8-10 (.800) shooting and added three rebounds and six assists (zero turnovers) in a 115-101 win over Charlotte on Jan. 3. At Phoenix on Jan 12, a 101-90 Cavs win, Irving scored a game-high 26 points on 11-17 (.647) shooting and added three rebounds, six assists and two steals in 28 minutes. Irving dished out a career-high tying seven assists to go along with 25 points on 9-16 (.563) shooting and four rebounds in a 102-94 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Jan. 16.

The 6-foot-3 rookie scored a career-high 32 points on 12-20 (.600) shooting and added six rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes against the Nets on Jan. 27. In that game, he scored 21 points in the fourth quarter (including 17 in the final three minutes of the game) becoming the first rookie to score at least 21 points in the fourth quarter of a game since Marcus Williams of New Jersey scored 21 points in the fourth quarter on November 24, 2006. He became the first player to score 17 or more points in the final three minutes of the game since Vince Carter scored 18 points in the last three minutes for the Nets against Chicago on April 11, 2006. Against Boston on Jan. 29, Irving made the game-winning shot with 2.6 seconds left to beat the Celtics 88-87. In that game, he finished with a game-high 23 points, four rebounds and a game-high six assists in 33 minutes.

Harangody was assigned to Canton on Jan. 26^th and played in three games (three starts) with the Charge, averaging 13.3 points on .400 shooting and 8.7 rebounds in 34.7 minutes per game. The 6-foot-8 forward recorded two double-doubles in his three games with the Charge, including a 21-point, 11-rebound effort in 39 minutes versus the Los Angeles Defenders on Jan. 28. Harangody has appeared in five games with the Cavaliers this season, posting averages of 2.6 points on .455 shooting and 1.2 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per game.

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio – Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson is in Boston getting tests on his injured neck.

Gibson did not play in Sunday’s comeback win over the Celtics and did not return to Cleveland with the Cavs. A team spokesman said Gibson is at Beth Israel Hospital getting tested.

The Cavs do not know when Gibson will return. Gibson said his neck began hurting during Friday night’s game against New Jersey.

Also, Cavs starting guard Anthony Parker did not practice Monday because of a sore lower back. Parker played just 14 minutes against the Celtics.

Cavs coach Byron Scott said Gibson and Parker will both miss Tuesday’s home game against the Celtics.

Scott said Parker was grimacing in pain during Sunday’s game and asked to be taken out. Parker is averaging 6 points and 23 minutes.