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Cavaliers coach Lue taking leave to address health issues

Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue announced Monday he will "step back from coaching for the time being" to focus on his health.

The team plans for Lue to return to his role next week, a source told NBA.com's David Aldridge.

Associate head coach Larry Drew will assume interim head coaching duties, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

In the team release, Lue described "chest pains and other troubling symptoms," but revealed there's no conclusive diagnosis of his ailment.

"While I have tried to work through it, the last thing I want is for it to affect the team," Lue said in the statement. "I am going to use this time to focus on a prescribed routine and medication, which has previously been difficult to start in the midst of a season."

Lue, 40, didn't coach in the second half Saturday against the Chicago Bulls, the second time since February such an incident has occurred.

The seriousness of the issue wasn't lost on his players.

"We worry about his health, obviously," LeBron James said after the Bulls game, according to McMenamin. "That's way more important than this game of basketball."

Since becoming head coach midway through the 2015-16 campaign, Lue has a 118-74 regular-season record and 29-10 in the playoffs, including back-to-back NBA Finals appearances and the franchise's lone championship in 2016.

With 13 games to play, the 40-29 Cavaliers sit 6.5 games behind the second-seeded Boston Celtics - and just 3.5 games ahead of the eighth-seeded Miami Heat.

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