Did Injuries Ruin the NBA Playoffs?
With the NBA Finals underway, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns are the last two teams left standing.
However, it is arguable whether both teams would be where they are now if injuries had not hit teams in both conferences. Throughout both of their paths, injuries have arguably aided them on their paths through their respective conferences.
Which begs the question; have these playoffs been ruined by injuries?
Injuries have been a part of the game for decades. From injuries to Bill Russell costing him a 12-0 record to more recently the Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson injuries costing the Golden State Warriors a chance at a three-peat.
However, it is hard to think of an NBA postseason that has had this many key players missing time due to injuries.
(Keith Birmingham/Getty Images)
The Denver Nuggets noticeably missed their second-best player in Jamal Murray going into the playoffs. While they were able to make it past the Portland Trailblazers in the first round, they were eventually swept by the Phoenix Suns in four noncompetitive games. While there is no guarantee that the Nuggets would have won that series, they could have at least made the series much more competitive and interesting.
For the Los Angeles Lakers, arguably the league’s best player in LeBron James injured his ankle in March and had not looked right since he came back. The explosiveness was not there, and he was not as aggressive while attacking the paint as he normally is. Then in Game Four of their first-round matchup with the Suns, with the Lakers up 2-1, Anthony Davis gets injured and missed Game Five, and then early in Game Six pulled his groin and was out for the rest of the game.
(Mark J. Terrill/AP)
The Los Angeles Clippers lost Kawhi Leonard in Game Four against the Utah Jazz and had to watch from the sidelines as his team lost the Western Conference Finals without him.
Donovan Mitchell missed a game, along with Mike Conley for the Utah Jazz as well.
The Nets suffered arguably the biggest injuries of all, and it cost them at least a Finals berth if not the whole championship. James Harden went down with less than a minute into the second round of the playoffs, and Kyrie Irving then went down in Game Four of the same series. If both players stay healthy, the Nets were just about guaranteed to make the NBA Finals with the way they were playing.
With Giannis Antetokounmpo missing several games of the Eastern Conference Finals with a knee injury, it looked as though the Bucks would suffer the same fate as many other teams in the playoffs. However, on the other end of the court, the Atlanta Hawks were also unlucky as they lost Trae Young for some time due to an ankle injury. While Giannis made a spectacular and surprising comeback from injury to start the first game of the NBA Finals, it is clear that he was not quite himself. It has yet to be seen whether or not this injury will linger and hamper not only Giannis but the entire Bucks team from reaching their full potential.
The injury bug has potentially robbed fans of some great playoff series that could have happened, such as the Clippers and Lakers or possibly another Kevin Durant and LeBron James NBA Finals showdown.
While these playoffs have been still surprisingly good, especially with the young guns displaying what they can do on the big stage, we will be left wondering “what if” no matter who wins the NBA Championship this season.
