NBA Betting: Carroll Injury Could Doom Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks lost Game 1 of their Eastern Conference final versus the Cleveland Cavaliers, but that’s the least of their problems. DeMarre Carroll sprained his left knee in the fourth quarter and had to leave the game; he’s considered questionable for Friday’s Game 2 (8:30 PM ET, TNT) after an MRI revealed no structural damage.
Atlanta supporters are praying that Carroll will be able to play, as he is not only one of the Hawks’ best players but also may be the key to Atlanta’s future well-being. If he plays, the Hawks could be a tremendous bargain at 20/1 on the NBA championship futures market. If not, the Hawks might be lucky to win a single game in this series. That’s how important Carroll is to Atlanta – even though the Hawks are still 1-point home favorites for Game 2, as they were in Wednesday’s 97-89 loss.
Attack the King
Although Carroll (15.9 PER) was the only member of the Hawks starting five not to make the All-Star team this year, he plays an integral role in their success. Carroll ties everything together as a “3-and-D” small forward, hitting 39.5 percent of his trey attempts during the regular season and posting a plus-0.5 DBPM (Defensive Box Plus/Minus), typically while guarding the other team’s top scoring threats on the perimeter.
In the Eastern final, that threat is LeBron James (25.9 PER). He led all scorers Wednesday night with 31 points, but it took 26 shot attempts to get there, as James had another one of his high-volume, low-efficiency performances. The breakout star of the game was J.R. Smith (14.5 PER), who scored 28 points off the bench after hitting eight of his 12 shots from downtown. Those were the only points from Cleveland’s reserve corps.
Pass the Baton
Carroll’s availability for Game 2 becomes doubly important when you consider the position he plays. The only other true small forward on Atlanta’s roster is Thabo Sefolosha (13.8 PER), a lockdown wing who posted a plus-2.5 DBPM for the Hawks this year. Sefolosha is out for the playoffs after suffering a broken leg during an altercation with the New York Police Department last month.
That leaves Kent Bazemore (9.7 PER) to take over the starting role at the 3-spot if Carroll can’t play Friday. Bazemore can play some defense, too (plus-1.3 DBPM), but he’s one of the most limited offensive players on the team (minus-3.1 OBPM). His 36.4-percent success rate on 3-pointers may be enough to get the job done on a good day, but it also creates a hole in Atlanta’s bench that must be filled.
Since Carroll’s MRI came out relatively clean, he might be able to play at something close to full capacity on Friday; Atlanta will be in good shape if that’s the case. Smith had an unusually good night on Wednesday, even though the Hawks were playing solid perimeter defense. At the other end, Atlanta shot just 4-of-23 (17.4 percent) from long range. Chalk it up to bad luck – but if Carroll can’t play in Game 2, it’ll take more than regression to the mean for the Hawks to get even in this series.
