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Injuries to multiple NBA stars headline Sunday’s playoff games: What to know – The Athletic
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Sunday’s slate of NBA playoff Game 1s was headlined by injuries ranging from highly concerning to outright devastating for multiple NBA stars, including Ja Morant and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Athletic has you covered on everything you need to know.
The Grizzlies guard exited to the locker room late in the fourth quarter of the team’s 128-112 loss to the Lakers with an apparent hand injury. X-rays came back negative, but coach Taylor Jenkins said that it was too early to know about Morant’s status for Game 2. Jenkins also said Morant was in pain. Morant agreed his pain level was “about a 10” and said there was “doubt” that he could play in the second game against the Lakers.
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Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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Grizzlies’ Ja Morant suffers hand injury
The best the Grizzlies can say is they’ve been here before. If Morant is to miss any games with this injury, Memphis will revert back to the formula that led to a 6-3 record while Morant was suspended in March. Tyus Jones slides into the starting guard spot, they feature Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane, and David Roddy sees more of a role. It’s not an ideal situation against a suddenly deep Lakers team that brings Dennis Schröder off the bench, but the Grizzlies can at least say they know how to win without Morant. It’s old news now, but they went 20-5 in games without him the previous season. — Joe Vardon
The Bucks star was ruled out for the remainder of Milwaukee’s game against Miami after sustaining a lower back contusion on a hard fall in the first quarter. Antetokounmpo landed hard on his backside with 4:13 remaining in the first and tried to return early in the second quarter after initially heading to the locker room, but then exited again.
The second game of the series is set for Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET.
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Giannis exits vs. Heat with lower back contusion
Antetokounmpo is obviously massively important to everything the Bucks do on both ends of the floor, so it has been a bit of a struggle for the Bucks, but that might have been the case anyways. Even before Antetokounmpo left the game, the Bucks were putting together a sloppy start to to the game after not playing for a week (and most of their starters sitting out even longer than that). — Eric Nehm
The Heat guard broke his hand late in the second quarter against the Bucks, marking the second major injury of the game after Antetokounmpo went out earlier. Miami’s third-leading scorer this season appeared to injure the hand as he dove on the floor for the ball; he sank a corner 3 before exiting.
Miami entered this series faced with the difficult challenge of keeping up with the Bucks’ scoring. That task becomes infinitely harder if the Heat are without their third-leading scorer and their best 3-point marksman for the remainder of the series.
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Robinson started the second half of Game 1 in place of Herro, and he offers a perimeter shooting threat. Robinson, however, hasn’t been a rotational mainstay since December. His defense, meanwhile, figures to be a liability the Bucks can exploit moving forward. Milwaukee wasted no time attacking Robinson in the third quarter.
The Heat don’t have many other options. Miami might be forced to dust off Victor Oladipo, who didn’t appear in eight of the team’s final 14 contests, including the team’s two Play-In Tournament games. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra also is likely to extend the minutes of starters Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin and Max Strus, as well as reserve Kyle Lowry. But there is no replacing the scoring punch and playmaking Herro provides the Heat. — Darnell Mayberry
The Lakers seem to have narrowly avoided the injury bug Sunday. Davis injured his arm late in the second quarter after making contact with Jaren Jackson Jr. and said he couldn’t move it. But he returned in the second half, finishing the game with 22 points and 12 rebounds.
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Lakers erupt in fourth, take Game 1 vs. Grizzlies
The Lakers’ 2020 championship run was littered with key performances from their supporting cast, including Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma and Alex Caruso. The Lakers’ depth has been questionable since then. But if Game 1 was any indication, this is the deepest roster since the title group — if not an even better bunch.On Sunday, Austin Reaves (23 points, including nine straight in crunch time) and Rui Hachimura (29 points, five 3s, six rebounds) were the role players who stepped up in a meaningful way, carrying LA’s offense during pivotal stretches. The Lakers had five players score 19-plus points (LeBron James, Davis, Reaves, Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell). Dennis Schroder and Jarred Vanderbilt chipped in defensively. This group is shaping up to be one of the most dangerous No. 7 seeds in recent memory. — Jovan Buha
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(Photo: Justin Ford / Getty Images)
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