The latest injury update has big names on it, which could affect the turnout of the NBA Playoffs games coming in a couple of weeks.
The NBA was on an extremely long hiatus because of the lockdown brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. NBA players tried to keep in shape in their way. However, there is still nothing compared to the conditioning brought by actual games. As such, the bodies of the players are put into a shock with the shortened schedule in the bubble.
Below is a round-up of the injuries that have happened in the first week of the NBA restart.
Jonathan Isaac out for the season with an ACL injury
Jonathan Isaac took advantage of the extended rest to heal his knee injury. He was on pace as a candidate for the Most Improved Player award. Unfortunately, he went down with a severe left knee sprain and bone contusion back in 2019. He was expected to be done for the season, but the lockdown gave him an opening to recover.
Again, unfortunately, he went down awkwardly on his knees in their match against the Sacramento Kings. He’s not only expected to be out this season but also for the most of the 2020-2021 season. The injury is a tough blow for the Magic, they seemed to have found their groove, but this setback may trigger yet another rebuild. Isaac’s injury also dampens the chances of the Magic to move past the first round of the Playoffs.
Stevens says that while Walker will sit out tomorrow because he does not go hard two days in a row right now, they will ramp up his minutes more on Friday. Stevens expects no minutes limit by start of playoffs.
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) August 5, 2020
Kemba Walker is slowly getting back up to speed
Walker has been the center of attention in the Celtics’ locker room. The prolonged rest wasn’t enough for him to fully heal a nagging knee injury. The actual status of his health has been kept vague by the team. Enes Kanter emphasized the fact that their team will be scary once Walker is back in full strength.
Head coach Brad Stevens points to the fact that Kemba is already up to speed. These mixed signals could lead to a bigger problem, which the C’s are trying to cover. Be that as it may, Kemba trying to play through the injury has been a good sight.
Ben Simmons’ MRI returns clean
The 24-year-old All-star walked back to their locker room after lobbing a pass to Al Horford in the paint. He wasn’t wincing in pain or anything. He just flexed his left leg to check any problem with it. The Sixers still haven’t released any official news on the young star’s health. However, they have placed him on a day-to-day notice after this MRI came out clean.
Losing Simmons will be a tough blow to Sixers if he sits out any games in the Playoffs. They still haven’t found their A-game. As such, they could be in for an upset first-round if Simmons does miss some time on the floor.
Image from NBA Africa/ YouTube thumbnail and Chris Smoove/ YouTube thumbnail