Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Injuries, not virus, alter playoff race
Loss, status of key players overtake COVID-19 concerns
As teams gear up for the stretch run of the NBA regular season, it’s injuries to key players — not just their unavailability due to COVID-19 — that is having the biggest effect on the playoff race in both conferences.
Still, preparing to play outside of the controlled atmosphere of last season’s Florida bubble has helped teams brace for the unexpected.
When the NBA season tipped off in December, keeping players healthy as they traveled during the pandemic was the chief priority around the league. In the four months since then, virtually every team has made adjustments to their rotation because of league-wide health and safety protocols.
“With COVID and with the way the season has gone, everybody’s missing games,” 76ers center Joel Embiid said. “COVID has affected the whole league. It’s hard to kind of figure out when the team is at their best.”
Lately, it’s been injuries and not the virus that has dictated how the season has gone.
That starts with the defending champion Lakers, who continue to be without team cornerstones LeBron James and Anthony Davis with no clear idea of when they will return.
Davis was averaging 22.5 points and 8.4 rebounds through 23 games when he strained his right calf Feb. 14. He hasn’t played since, a span of 25 games entering Monday. He’s expected to get re-evaluated this week.
James’ sprained right ankle has kept him sidelined since March 21 and he could be three more weeks from returning. It stunted a 41-game start in which he was averaging 25.4 points and 7.9 assists and 7.9 rebounds.
Another blow was dealt to the Western Conference-contending Nuggets, who learned Tuesday that versatile point guard Jamal Murray would be out indefinitely with a torn ACL in his left knee. Murray was injured late in a loss to the Warriors on Monday night. The Nuggets were looking to again be a legitimate threat a season after making to the conference finals.
The story is just as fascinating in the topsy-turvy and increasingly tightening East, where almost every team in the playoff mix has players currently on — or just getting off — the injury report.
The 76ers and Nets began the week tied at atop the conference at 36-17, with the Bucks (33-20) three games back.
But things could certainly change in a hurry.
The Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo missed his fifth straight game Sunday with a sore left knee and currently has no timetable for return.
The Nets seemed to be getting back to full strength earlier this month when Kevin Durant returned to action after a 23-game absence due to a strained left hamstring. Then James Harden went down April 5 with a right hamstring.
He’s missed the Nets’ last two games and was expected to miss at least 10 days recuperating. That could mean he won’t be available for matchups this week when they visit the 76ers on Wednesday, host the Hornets on Friday and visit the Heat on Sunday.
All three of those opponents are dealing with their own health issues.
Embiid proclaimed “I’m back” to 76ers coach Doc Rivers last week following a 35-point performance against the Celtics in only his second game back from a 10-game stint in the injury report because of a bone bruise in his left knee.
The fourth-place Hawks are missing Trae Young (bruised left calf ), Cam Reddish (sore right Achilles tendon) and Tony Snell (sprained right ankle). The Heats are holding on to fifth, but lost Victor Oladipo to a right knee injury Thursday.
And the Hornets are clinging to sixth place in East is without three of its stop scorers in LeMelo Ball (out with broken right wrist since March 22), Gordon Hayward (sprained right foot; out since April 4) and Malik Monk (out since April 2 with a sprained right ankle).
With so many teams fighting the injury bug, who gets healthy the fastest and who adjusts the quickest will likely determine who walks away with the championship trophy in July.