Atlanta Hawks Injury Hell
The fine line between exceptional in the playoffs and ordinary in the regular season often rests upon the fragile bodies of NBA players who try-and sometimes fail- to overcome injuries. Perhaps a lot of this is just fate or luck of the draw. Random things happen that are never planned and the Hawks are no exception in this. Kobe Bryant, Chris Bosh, Kevin Durant, Paul George have their own testimonies on this subject. The bottom line to all of it is that accidents sometimes cause the most significant damage.
This is not welcomed territory by coaches or their staff. At this stage in the season- we’re going on game 90- reconstruction is like digging in a ditch for water and finding only dirt. Yes, you try but you just come up empty.
Clearly, Paul Millsap is not 100% with his shoulder and Millsap acknowledged as much, as he struggled with a limited range of motion. He’ll make more adjustments to figure out how to recapture the rhythmic form he has displayed all season. It’s only one part of his game that he is dragging two steps behind. His rebounding, his defense, his leadership are still intact.
Al Horford, injured much of the last three years, added one more wrinkle in the dreams of the Hawks with a purely accidental basketball play that happens more often than is reported. Horford’s dislocated finger may make it impossible to play Wednesday night, a devastating and particularly cruel set of events for Horford who relished being back here after such a tumultuous few years.
Apr 19, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford (15) dunks over top of Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) during the second half in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. The Hawks defeated the Nets 99-92. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
The game of basketball is predicated on overcoming physical stress; it is the point of the playoffs. Can you achieve while enduring physical and mental adversity? Will attrition of the body, and doubt in the mind, be the opponent that saps your will?
If Horford can’t go, then Coach Bud will have to make the first major adjustment of the series. He’s already facing an uphill struggle with seven footer Brook Lopez seemingly everywhere. Lopez, who is bigger than anyone the Hawks have on deck to stop him, is sure to increase his production over Sunday’s outing when he only took seven shots. The Nets are aware of the Hawks injury issues. They wouldn’t be competitors if they didn’t take advantage.
Without Horford in the lineup, where do the Hawks go? Probably Pero Antic. He filled in for them last year in the playoffs when Horford was unavailable.
In his first start against the Pacers, Antic was decent, 28 minutes, 7 rebounds, 8 points. But, every game thereafter, he was worse. 5 points, 3 rebounds in game two. 1 point, 3 rebounds in game three. 2 points, 2 rebounds in game four. The numbers shrank and by game seven he had 0 points and 4 rebounds.
Antic can play 25 minutes but production levels from others must increase. Last year, against Indiana, Millsap had an 18 rebound game, followed by a 17 rebound game. Somehow, that seems unlikely with Millsap’s shoulder still a work in progress as he is trying to regain strength and range of motion.
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None of this is new. As tournaments go, the NBA chase to their gold trophy is a gruesome grind even as it doesn’t appear that way on television with all of the close-ups of players seemingly unfazed by the matchups. Reflexively, players downplay the nags and bumps and bruises, as if they mean nothing, when, at this time of year, bruises can expand, exaggerate, get worse and skew production.
Their bodies hurt. There is a part of luck to all of this. A man’s body is a man’s body; eventually it will fall apart if pushed hard enough. It is the basis of physics- energy versus force. The Hawks have the energy, it is their brilliantly run rhythmic offense. The force is the body breaking down at the worst possible moment.
Tomorrow night, the proverbial drawing board gets a re-do, not that any of it was planned. The Hawks obligation is to try to make all of this work, this patchwork of non-healthy players and the rest who are filling in for them, kind of like putting a band-aid on a broken leg.
There’s a quiet irony here. Just two weeks ago it seemed as if the Hawks had all the time in the world. In fact, they had too much time. Now their time is shrunken into moment, halves, quarters, possessions. They need Millsap and Horford if they are to do anything in the postseason.
The playoffs can be a Greek tragedy; there is suffering. The playoffs can be a long distance race; there is glory. Or, the playoffs can be something in the middle, not a feast but surely not a famine either, a native land where not much is lost and not much is gained. Of that, the Hawks are desperate to avoid being tagged with the label “almost”.
No one wants to be thought of as the team that could have won a NBA title if only…