Basketball fans have to be thrilled about the potential to see two of the game’s biggest superstars go head-to-head in this year’s NBA Finals as LeBron James leads the Cleveland Cavaliers against MVP Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. However, there are a handful of notable injuries that have the potential to really impact both betting and fantasy in this year’s championship round. Here is a look at four key injuries to keep in mind.
Kevin Love
Love spoke with the media on Sunday and while he told reporters that he expects to be playing for the Cavaliers next season, we won’t see him in the NBA Finals because of the dislocated shoulder injury he suffered in the opening round after getting tangled up with Boston Celtics center Kelly Olynyk. Love was regarded as the asset that would put this Cleveland team over the top and while Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson have stepped up big time since he got hurt, the Cavaliers will be in tough against the Warriors without their star big man. Cleveland’s chances to win it all took a major hit when Love was injured and it’s important to keep that in mind when betting this series.
Kyrie Irving
The fact that Irving will play in this series doesn’t mean his injury should be overlooked as he continues to deal with tendonitis in his knee. Irving was limited in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Atlanta Hawks and while J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert stepped up to help the Cavaliers advance. The fact that Cleveland’s star point guard won’t be at full strength for the Finals could have a major impact on the series.
You’ll have to play daily fantasy leagues accordingly, which likely means avoid Irving at least for Game 1 until we see him put forth a strong effort. He missed two games in the Eastern Conference final but did collect 16 points along with five assists, four rebounds, two threes, a block and a steal in Game 4. For now, it’s probably best to avoid him and look at guys like Matthew Dellavedova, Smith and Shumpert to pick up the slack instead.
Klay Thompson
With the exception of Stephen Curry missing close to a quarter of basketball, the Warriors made it through the Western Conference relatively healthy. However, Thompson suffered a concussion in Game 5 against the Houston Rockets and was dealing with the lingering effects of the injury following the game that stirred up some cause for concern about whether or not he will be ready for the start of the series. Head coach Steve Kerr has said Thompson will be ready for Game 1 and ESPN’s Marc Stein tweeted that it’s 99.9% a certainty that he suits up. Still, it’s worth keeping a close eye on him especially if he suffers another blow that brings back the lingering effects of that type of injury.
Stephen Curry
It’s somewhat amazing that Curry returned to Game 4 against the Rockets and played in Game 5 after the scary fall he took. Warriors’ fans got another reminder of just how fragile a championship bid can be because of injuries when Curry suffered that scary looking fall. He appeared to be just fine in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals as he poured in 26 points, eight rebounds, six assists, five steals and three threes. While there haven’t been any reported effects from that spill, it’s worth keeping an eye on the league’s MVP should he take any more blows in this series.
Speaking of additional blows, the reason we bring it up is because the Cavaliers have been a fairly physical team throughout the postseason so far with a lot of the chicanery coming from Dellavadova. Remember, he sparked ejects from Al Horford and Taj Gibson, and he happened to be the one who fell into Kyle Korver to injure his ankle and rule him out of the series. Don’t be surprised if Dellavedova has some Bruce Bowen-like tactics in the finals as well to test the health of both Curry and Thompson.
