Fatigue showed its ugly face last night in the Miami domination of the Bulls. Chicago, as a team, shot 26 percent for the game, which is a clear sign that their overworked bodies are having a hard time keeping up. What makes fatigue especially dangerous around this time of year is that it can lead to serious injury or, as ESPN themselves noted, waves of illness.
This juncture of the 2013 NBA Playoffs is when coaches will turn to their go-to guys for heavy minutes, but that added responsibility can take a toll on NBA bodies in an era that demands more from them all year long.
SJN has a list of important players that are ill or impaired at the moment.
1. Steph Curry – The human shooting drill played a great game last Sunday despite nursing an ankle injury. Curry’s brief career has been riddled with ankle trouble, so it will be important for Mark Jackson to keep a careful eye on his condition and minutes. If he can continue to pour in 22 points, six rebounds, and four assists, as he did in Game 4, even at half capacity, the Warriors have a good chance of winning tonight in San Antonio. But that also depends on the state of Tony Parker.
2. Tony Parker – Even without a sore calf, Parker has had a hard time in this series. In the starting five, there is no one on the opposing side he can guard, and the rest of the Spurs starting unit have their hands full with their own defensive assignments to give Tony much assistance. Unlike Curry, Parker had a subpar game with his injury, making only 17 points, dishing out only three assists, and shooting an uncharacteristic 35% from the field. When his shot is falling, the Warriors have a harder time exploiting his defensive helplessness, so he’ll have to drop his best game of the series tonight.
3. Kenyon Martin – Now’s not the best time for the Knicks to be questioning each other’s decision making. And it certainly doesn’t help that they’re also currently contagious, and not in the way good teams would like to be. Martin is one of three players who are currently sick for New York and who missed yesterday’s practice. Martin will play tonight as New York will need his gritty play to bother Roy Hibbert down low.
4. Iman Shumpert – Shump is another one of the ill on the Knicks team. He will also suit up tonight and New York fans better hope his performance doesn’t suffer as he’s been the team’s second-best rebounder and third-best scorer for the series. Not things you would expect from Iman, but Mike Woodson will take it.
5. J.R. Smith – Smith is the third of the ailed. But more than a healthy J.R., the Knicks need a good J.R. as he’s only averaging 11.3 PPG on 26% shooting, four RPG, and one APG in this series. You would expect better from the 6th Man Of The Year recipient. If he puts up similar numbers tonight, Indy has this in the bag.
6. David Lee – For those not impressed with Lee’s return to playing, despite a hip injury, it now seems that he’ll require surgery after it was ruled initially that he’d be able to recover with some R&R. Yet, Lee is still determined to help his Cinderella Warriors try to pull off an upset on San Antonio. He’s played little, but he posted an important five rebounds in eight minutes in Game 4 and five points in five minutes in Game 3. Lee also serves as another big body the Warriors can throw at Duncan.
