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"It isn’t a coincidence that those squads have the four best records in the league."
Even if there were no injuries to the other teams, those 4 teams would still be at the top of the league.
from nba.com;
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Injuries, Injuries, Injuries
By Chris Bubeck
April 14, 2007 -- Start off with Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen in the backcourt. Put Paul Pierce and Pau Gasol at the forwards. Take your pick of Shaquille O’Neal or Yao Ming at the center position. And while you’re at it, add Michael Redd as a sixth man and Joe Johnson, Jason Richardson and Peja Stojakovic as reserves.
Other than being a dream squad for any general manager or fantasy basketball owner, what does this star-studded group have in common?
All of these players missed over a quarter of the 2006-07 campaign due to injuries.
The injury bug hit the league fast and hard this season, starting before teams had a chance to open training camp and crippling other teams’ postseason runs in the season’s final few weeks.
Almost no team was spared from a witch’s brew of maladies, ranging from sprained ankles to separated shoulders to gruesome knee injuries and even an appendicitis, that struck the league’s elite at an unprecedented level.
It started when Gasol suffered a broken bone in his left foot while playing for Spain in the FIBA World Championship over the summer and the epidemic continued to haunt teams throughout the season. The Wizards, aiming for their first division le since 1978-79, were dealt a serious blow when Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler – both enjoying the best seasons of their careers - went down with season-ending injuries in early April.
In between, the carnage was unrelenting. O’Neal missed 35 straight games due to knee surgery. Yao, off to the best start of his career, sat out for 32 in a row with a broken leg. Wade missed 23 consecutive games with a dislocated shoulder, while Allen will end up missing the final 16 games with ankle injuries and 27 overall. Stojakovic’s first season with the Hornets lasted only 13 games before back surgery sidelined him.
Other notable names to miss significant time with injuries included Zach Randolph, Shaun Livingston, Sam Cassell, Baron Davis, Andrea Bargnani, Richard Jefferson, Nenad Krstic, Jorge Garbajosa, Chris Paul, J.R. Smith, Andres Nocioni, Quentin Richardson, Steve Francis, Luke Walton, Lamar Odom, Emeka Okafor and Larry Hughes. And the list could go on and on from Tony Allen all the way to David West.
Several teams were able to overcome what seemed to be devastating injuries. The Heat appeared to be in serious jeopardy of missing the playoffs, let alone defending their le, when Wade went down on Feb. 21. Instead, they rallied around O’Neal and went 16-7 in Wade’s absence, including nine straight wins at one point, to jump the Wizards en route to their third straight Southeast Division le.
The Rockets also rallied around their other superstar during Yao’s absence. Tracy McGrady, who missed 10 games himself this season, led the way as Houston went 20-12 with their 7-foot-6 centerpiece on the bench. With Yao back in the fold, the Rockets have clinched a playoff berth and have their eyes on home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Nets patched it together in the frontcourt when Krstic went down with a season-ending knee injury in December, made due without Richard Jefferson for 21 straight games, lost reserve Eddie House late in the season and are still in the mix for one of the East’s final playoff berths.
The Hornets were also able to overcome injuries to Stojakovic, West, Paul – the reigning Rookie of the Year – and a host of others, but are making a late run for the playoffs.
Many other teams, including the Bobcats, Celtics and Sonics, were unable to overcome the never-ending rash of injuries. Perhaps no team was hit harder than the Bucks. Projected starter Bobby Simmons missed the whole season, new acquisition Charlie Villanueva was limited to 39 games and 2005 No. 1 pick Andrew Bogut will end the season on the bench. Redd, who had the franchise’s highest average since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1974-75 with 26.7 points per game, missed over a third of the season as well.
The Knicks were able to stay in the playoff race for most of the season, but a late-season rash of injuries that claimed Stephon Marbury, Richardson, David Lee and Renaldo Balkman was too much to overcome.
Very few teams were able to avoid a major injury, with the Pistons, Suns, Mavericks and Spurs being the exceptions. It isn’t a coincidence that those squads have the four best records in the league.
“This is as bad as it's been around the league that I can remember," Hawks coach Mike Woodson told the Atlanta Journal Cons ution. "Maybe because it's happened to us so much I'm noticing it more. But this is the most I've seen since I've been in the league.”
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Couldn't have agreed more. This season hasn't been that interesting to me, but hopefully some of the great match-up's in the post season will make up for it.
"It isn’t a coincidence that those squads have the four best records in the league."
Even if there were no injuries to the other teams, those 4 teams would still be at the top of the league.
dang, you beat me to it...in the east, you could probably also include the heat so i guess we could say top five teams
I hear some of the injuries are related to an infectious diseason called Odenitus or that from overseas called durantolia.
Not sure about that.
Take Duncan or Parker out of us and we would struggle.
Take Nash away from the Suns and they are horrible (I watched them lose to Chicago without Nash just before the All-Star break... ugh!).
Dallas and Detroit are pretty deep and could probably cover the loss of a Nowitzki/Howard or Billups/Sheed/Rip.
Last year Dallas were something like 22-1 with Howard scoring 20+. I wonder whether he is the difference maker for them again this year?
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