Injuries

As I mentioned in my previous column, injuries will be the culprit in spoiling a team’s performance. Before the start of the NBA season this year, I picked the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets to slug it out for the championship. On paper, the Nets looked a cinch to claim the crown with Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Blake Griffin, Joe Harris and DeAndre Jordan in the lineup. On the other hand, the Lakers would still be a force to reckon with Lebron James, Anthony Davis, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavios Cadwell-Pope, Andre Drummond and Talen Horton Tucker. Then the injuries came. Davis missed 30 games due to an assortment of injuries includng calf and heel problems. Lebron James likewise suffered an injury that sidelined him for almost a month but recovered in time to help the Lakers secure a playoff spot. Davis suited up for the playoffs but suffered a strained groin in Game Four, missing the second half of a 100-92 loss to the red-hot Phoenix Suns, who sent the Lakers packing. Then it was the turn of the Nets to kiss their bid for the crown goodbye as their star players suffered injuries just like the Lakers.  James Harden suffered a hamstring injury and was sidelined for quite sometime. Well, with a lot of firepower left in their arsenal, the Nets took the first two games of a semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks and could have won the third.  In Game 4, Irving was injured during the second quarter of the Nets loss to the Bucks after a collision with  Giannis Antetokounmpo. In Game 5, Durant took charge as Irving and Harden entered sick bay, but the Bucks equalized in Game 6 thus, the winner-take-all seventh game. But the wheel of fortune however favored the Bucks in Game 7, as Milwaukee withstood Durant’s 48 points to win in overtime. Harden was back in the game but was never the same when he was 100 percent healthy. True, he scored 22 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists, but was 5 for 17 from the field. Irving again didn’t play. Durant drained a spinning turn around jumper from just inside the arc to send the game into overtime.  But Durant lost steam in the extra period as the Bucks marched to the Eastern Conference Finals. Well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Walking wounded

Other players who were missing in action or “playing wounded” include Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics. Without Brown, the load was in Jayson Tatum’s shoulder but couldn’t just do it alone versus the Nets, who eliminated the Celtics in five games. Joel Embid of the Philadelphia 76ers also played with a tear in his knee (miniscus). After leading the Atlanta Hawks, the 76ers were poised to advance to the finals. But Trae Young turned the tables on Philadelphia and went on to meet Milwaukee for the Eastern Conference crown. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Clippers, given up for dead after the injury to Kawhi Leonard, advanced to the Western Conference Finals after beating the  league- leading Utah Jazz.  It was the first time in the franchise’s 51-year history to be in the finals. As I write this column, the Suns nipped the still Kawhi-less Clippers in Game 4 and could clinch the conference crown in Game 5 in Phoenix on Tuesday.