The injury is different, the pain is the same for Larry Hughes.

Hughes will have surgery on the knuckle on his right middle finger at the Cleveland Clinic today. Surgeons will insert one or two pins to close a fracture that Hughes has been dealing with for nearly three months, wiping out the Cavaliers' shooting guard for the next six to eight weeks.

It is just another setback for Hughes, who has battled injuries his entire career. The scouting report on him is simple: He's fearless and fragile. He won't hesitate to go to the rim or battle through picks, but his 6-foot-5, 180-pound frame is often bashed by bigger bodies, and there's a trail of results.

``Every season I want to play 82 games. That's my goal, and obviously that's not going to happen this year,'' Hughes said. ``I have to deal with it. I have to make the best from it.''

Hughes has been able to avoid the major basketball injury areas, the knee and ankle, as most of his battle scars are as a result of being battered on the hands, wrists and shoulders.