Injuries will come into play during race to the NBA playoffs

The 2018 portion of the NBA schedule has arrived and with it came some interesting injuryrelated angles.

Houston, regarded by many as the most viable threat to another Golden State Warriors coronation in June has Chris Paul back, but will have to make do without MVP front-runner James Harden for at least a few weeks.

Harden had topped 40 points four times in December (twice notching 51), including 40 in 41 minutes on New Year’s Eve before he was diagnosed with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. While the injury could have been worse he won’t even be re-evaluated for another two weeks and there are no guarantees a return will be imminent at that point or if he will be 100 per cent the rest of the way. Harden was having another spectacular campaign, ranking first or second in win shares, value over replacement player, and box plusminus, while leading the NBA in scoring. Houston had been wobbling a bit even with Harden following its stirring run, and the brittle Paul had been in and out of the lineup. It will be all on one of the best point guards of this generation now to recalibrate the Rockets in the absence of the team’s best player. He got off to a good start in scoring 15 points in overtime with Harden out of the game against the L.A. Lakers.

It will also be fascinating to see how Isaiah Thomas meshes with his new teammates in Cleveland. Thomas was to finally make his debut on Tuesday night in 8-12 minutes against Portland. Thomas has not played since hurting his hip while with Boston last year. The NBA’s shortest player needs the ball in his hands and while many of the Cavs excel in catch-and-shoot roles, how will LeBron James, one of the best creators to ever play the game, feel about ceding control? It was a sticking point at times with Kyrie Irving. It’s also worth pondering just how long it will take before Thomas approaches his old form and the bigger question is how the team might hide him on defence. His size limits what he can do on that end and the Cavs already sit tied for 29th overall defensively with Phoenix.

Offence hasn’t been the problem for the Cavs and Thomas doesn’t shore up any of the defensive questions.

Still, Thomas will make Cleveland even tougher to contain.

He averaged 28.9 points a game last season and Cleveland point guards have averaged a thoroughly unspectacular 8.3 points combined so far in 2017-18.