Home Stretch Injury Impact Report

[garbageman]

Nick Young – San Antonio Spurs
Injury: Inflamed Appendix
Length: 3 Days
Impact: Very Low

Swaggy P is day-to-day with an inflamed appendix, but he hasn't missed any play from it. The Spurs are coming alive down the stretch, and they find themselves leading the Southwest Division. Swaggy will be back at 100% soon enough, but he's the third option behind Westbrook and Josh Smith, and if his appendix bursts, leaving Swaggy entrails all over the hardwood, Dennis Schroder is more than capable of picking up extra minutes if Nick's internal inflammation is more serious than initial reports imply.


Isaiah Thomas – Oklahoma City Thunder
Injury: Broken Foot
Length: 10 Days
Impact: Medium

The impact of Isaiah Thomas' injury is definitely palpable, but to be completely honest, OKC's problems started a little before he went down to a broken foot. They have cooled down after a decent start, a familiar story for the Thunder, and Isaiah should be back on the court soon enough, but it's going to take a hell of an effort to get them back into the playoff race. Unfortunately, backup point guard Marcus Banks went down to a dislocated shoulder and the Thunder dislocated him from PBSL by cutting him. They'll have to move either CJ McCollum or Marcus Smart down from 2 guard to the point position, but despite being on a slim roster until Thomas' return, either guard should be capable to fill in for Isaiah and try and hold the fort down until their backcourt is restored.

Fortunately, with Marcus Smart and Marcus Landry, the loss of Marcus Banks still leaves them with more Marcuses than any other team in PBSL.


Tracy McGrady – Portland Trailblazers
Injury: Broken Foot
Length: 27 Days
Impact: Medium

Tracy McGrady, whose foot is more broken than Isaiah Thomas, is not the purple/purple monster who dominated the league, but I respect him enough to give this injury medium impact. It's a very low medium, though, as the Blazers never really had designs on being all too competitive this year. Still, T-Mac was putting in a lot of minutes and putting points on the board. Their record without him doesn't look too different than their record with him, but it certainly stretches Portland's roster into some weird configurations. They've been playing Carlos Boozer on the wing, where he's slow and out of place, but a player of his caliber is figuring it out as best as he can, and unfortunately, it seems like there's not a better option at the 3 spot.


James Harden – Atlanta Hawks
Injury: Stress Fracture
Length: 29 Days
Impact: Very High

Harden's injury must be tough news for the Hawks GM as he returns from a vacation. The Hawks acquired Harden in a blockbuster trade to provide an offensive stud to a great team in need of a lights out scorer. They gave up two of their strongest offensive players for him, and without Harden, they're left with explosive-but-diminutive Nate Robinson as their best scoring option. The Hawks are a strong team, and they should be able to weather a month without The Beard, but the East is vastly competitive, and if they slump a little bit without Harden, that could give the Heat the boost they need to overtake the Southeast Division and could end up reshaping the playoff seeding. Worst case scenario, the Hawks could lose home court advantage. I think it's improbable, but I don't think it's possible. It's hard to tell, given the recency of Harden's injury.


Jimmy Butler – Vancouver Grizzlies
Injury: Patellar Tendanitis
Length: 33 Days
Impact: Medium

If Tracy McGrady's impact to the Rockets was a low medium, Jimmy Butler's is a high medium. He's the Grizzlies leading scorer, although that's at less than 20 ppg, so the Grizzlies can distribute their scoring pretty evenly. In fact, in their last game, all eight of their other players were in double digits. Unfortunately, that bright spot is one that's fewer and farther between than the Grizzlies anticipated. They traded some key assets for Rajon Rondo, who is a marvelous player, but father time is on the horizon. It was a definite win now move that didn't pan out, and with Butler out for a month, more time is a-wasting. They have Alec Burks filling in the starting role at SG, and by all means, he looked like he'd be a veritable starter for the Grizzlies future, but a rough training camp in Vancouver really affected the Grizzlies' wings, and without their own pick and Butler sidelined, it's not looking good for the Grizzlies this late in the season as they're at the bottom of the Southwest.


Elijah Millsap – Golden State Warriors
Injury: Plantar Fascitis
Length: 36 Days
Impact: Very Low

Millsap's injury means very little to the (not) defending champions. They just acquired O.J. Mayo, which also means very little. The biggest difference? Probably more shots for campaigning ROY candidate Brian Stark.


Thaddeus Young – Houston Rockets
Injury: Broken Arm
Length: 38 Days
Impact: High

Many had the Rockets pegged to take the Southwest Division, but a rough midseason schedule has the Rockets sitting outside the playoff cutoff, and an injury to Thaddeus Young will make it that much harder to climb back in. Their backup for Young is Chris Douglas-Roberts, a pretty stark downgrade. While Young wasn't integral to the Rockets scoring, he brought good defense, very good boardwork, and an intangible balance to the Rockets lineup. Houston is hoping that Thaddeus is back in uniform before it's too late, but with an estimated return in April, there might not be enough time for Houston to get back into the playoff picture.

Tyreke Evans – Washington Wizards
Injury: Broken Arm
Length: 58 Days
Impact: Very High

The longest injury is perhaps the most impactful of them all. The Wizards are in a state of flux right now. After centering the first half of their season around Carmelo Anthony, the Wiz sent him to Brooklyn for Danny Green and Aaron Brooks. This move seems fortuitous now as without Evans, they still have a solid backcourt in Brooks and Green. Their lineup is still strong, but Tyreke was their strongest option at either guard spot, and he was having an excellent season and doing a standup job running the offense. The Wizards have to manage the rest of the season without him, and as they're sitting in the last spot to reach the playoffs, this injury has the potential to put them on the outside. Their team is the most different looking from a month ago, and this injury only adds to that. They have a deep team and a lot of solid players, and there is a pretty wide gap between the eighth and ninth seeds out East, but losing Tyreke hurts the team in a way that their more likely to slide to ninth than climb to seventh. Perhaps standing pat in the last spot is most likely, but that only puts them against the top seed with their point guard still on IR come the start of the postseason. This is easily the injury that affects its team's fate the most, and the DC faithful will surely be crossing their fingers that the end of Evans' season doesn't doom the Wizards.

[Inner_GI]

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