The second round of this year’s NBA playoffs was, unfortunately, defined by injuries.
In each of the four conference semifinals series, one of the two participating teams suffered an injury to a major contributor. Stephen Curry went down in Game 1 of the Golden State Warriors–Minnesota Timberwolves series with a hamstring strain. Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter joined the already hurt Darius Garland on the injury list in Game 2 of the Cleveland Cavaliers–Indiana Pacers bout. Jayson Tatum, of course, tore his Achilles tendon in Game 3 of the Boston Celtics–New York Knicks matchup. And then, to put a depressing cap on it all, Aaron Gordon tweaked his hamstring late in Game 6 and was clearly not healthy for Game 7 of the Denver Nuggets–Oklahoma City Thunder clash. All four teams whose stars suffered injuries lost, while their healthy opponents moved on.
