Injuries Hit Key Players in Playoff Openers
The 2023 NBA Playoffs have just begun, but already we’re seeing players dropping like flies. While injuries are an often unavoidable part of the game, you never want to see key players getting hurt, especially in the early goings of a series.
Unfortunately for some teams, that has been the case.
Ja Morant Exits Late Due to a Hand Injury
Already playing without starting centre Steven Adams, the Memphis Grizzlies suffered another big blow to their playoff aspirations.
Ja Morant exited the game late in the fourth quarter with Memphis trailing the Los Angeles Lakers. He appeared to hurt his right hand after a failed dunk attempt over Anthony Davis. He headed straight to the locker room wincing in pain as he went.
The Lakers went on to take the series opener, 129-112 with Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves scoring 29 and 23 respectively for Los Angeles.
Morant finished with 18 points, six assists, six rebounds, two steals, and six turnovers. Jaren Jackson Jr. led the way for Memphis with 31 points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal in 37 minutes.
The good news: Morant’s x-ray came back negative. The bad news: his status for Game Two on Wednesday and beyond remains uncertain. According to Memphis Head Coach Taylor Jenkins, Morant will undergo further evaluations before determining his status for the rest of the series.
The Greek Freak Suffers Back Injury
Not only did the Milwaukee Bucks lose their series opener against the eighth-seeded Miami Heat. The Bucks also lost MVP finalist Giannis Antetokounmpo to a lower back contusion.
Antetokounmpo was ruled out of the game just before halftime after falling hard on his back on a drive to the basket against Miami’s Kevin Love, who was called for a blocking foul. The two-time league MVP took the free throws and tried to play through the pain. He left the court, and briefly returned, before leaving for good in the second quarter.
Giannis had six points and three rebounds in their 130-117 loss. Khris Middleton led the Bucks with 33 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.
His availability for the remainder of the series hangs in the balance. The Bucks finished the 2022-2023 regular season with a league-leading 58-24 record. However an extended absence from their star forward would certainly change the complexity of the series.
Tyler Herro Hurts Hand
The Bucks aren’t the only ones who suffered a blow in the Miami-Milwaukee series. Tyler Herro, averaging 20.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 37.8% three-point shooting this past season, missed the second half of the Heat’s road win after sustaining a broken hand in the first half. Herro didn’t come out of the locker room after halftime. The 23-year-old sniper from Kentucky finished with 12 points.
If Herro sits out the rest of the series, Jimmy Butler and company will have to find offense from the others. Miami went 7-8 this season without Herro. The Heat shot just 32.5% from three without Herro but saw that figure rise to 34.6% from three with him in the lineup.
According to TNT’s Chris Hayne’s, Herro broke the middle and ring finger on his shooting hand. A typical timeline for recovery from such an injury is 4-6 weeks, meaning that Miami will have to go on a deep playoff run if they hope to get their reigning 6th man of the year winner back this season.
-Iggy Gonzales
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.