{"id":81175,"date":"2024-06-12T09:51:54","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T13:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=81175"},"modified":"2024-06-12T09:51:54","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T13:51:54","slug":"will-injuries-become-tale-2024-nba-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/12\/will-injuries-become-tale-2024-nba-finals\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Injuries Become Tale of 2024 NBA Finals?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When Dallas Mavericks superstar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luka Doncic<\/a> realized his team would be heading to the NBA Finals, he already knew that he\u2019d be playing through injury.<\/p>\n<h2>Will Injuries Become Tale of 2024 NBA Finals?<\/h2>\n<p>Nine months into the 2023-24 season, anyone that\u2019s made it this far is at least a little nicked up. A sore spot here. A sprain there. However, Doncic\u2019s in so much pain that he had to receive an injection so that he could play in Game 2.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">JUST IN: Luka Doncic has been downgraded from probable to questionable, due to a thoracic contusion, ahead of tonight\u2019s Game 2 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MOJAn4d0J0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/MOJAn4d0J0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mike Leslie (@MikeLeslieWFAA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MikeLeslieWFAA\/status\/1799874678309232929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>He\u2019ll be getting another one before Game 3.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Luka Doncic received a pain-killing injection before Game 2 to numb the area of his thoracic contusion, per <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/espn_macmahon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@espn_macmahon<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/malika_andrews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@malika_andrews<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Doncic is expected to get another shot before Game 3. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IqeCmvUwFV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/IqeCmvUwFV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/YahooSports\/status\/1800593004513624283?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 11, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Amazingly, Doncic\u2019s also hobbled by a right knee sprain and left ankle soreness.<\/p>\n<p>You might never guess that he was hurt with his numbers; he\u2019s averaging 31.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 3.0 steals per game in the 2024 NBA Finals. In addition, he\u2019s shooting 51.1 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from 3. The film does Doncic justice as well, with the 6-foot-7 lead guard often easily shooting over the top of his defender.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, the five-time All-Star is averaging 6.0 turnovers per game, the Celtics\u2019 intelligence and effort shining at the defensive end. He\u2019s also gone 6-13 from the charity stripe, missing freebies that could have a meaningful impact on the game. Yet, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/irvinky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyrie Irving<\/a>\u2019s lost touch and ill-advised attempts are the primary reason that the Mavs are losing. After two games, he\u2019s averaging 14.0 points per game on 35.1 percent shooting from the field. He\u2019s went 0-8 from 3.<\/p>\n<p>All of which brings to question how Dallas will fare if Doncic\u2019s injuries begin to get the better of him. While professional athletes are in elite physical condition, they\u2019re still only human.<\/p>\n<h3>The Original Unicorn\u2019s Rare Injury<\/h3>\n<p>On the other side, the Celtics are dealing with their own big injury. On Tuesday, it was revealed that big man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/porzikr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kristaps Porzingis<\/a> sustained a rare injury in Game 2. Though he was seen gimping around late in the fourth quarter, it\u2019s unclear what exactly led to it.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Celtics just announced Kristaps Porzingis is day-to-day with a left leg injury. He also appeared to tweak his right leg in Game 2. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ETjPWm5gtm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ETjPWm5gtm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TimBontemps\/status\/1800595061291491829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 11, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The original \u2018unicorn,\u2019 Porzingis is averaging 16.0 points and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 60.0 percent from the field. He\u2019s just 2-7 from 3 to start the series but his dynamic skillset is a major reason the Celtics are up 2-0. His rim-protection and perimeter defense diminish Dallas\u2019s ability to score, and he has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/players\/advanced?CF=MIN*GE*15&amp;PORound=4&amp;SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;TeamID=1610612738&amp;dir=-1&amp;sort=DEF_RATING\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the team\u2019s lowest defensive rating<\/a> (90.7) this series among the players averaging at least 15 minutes per game.<\/p>\n<p>Boston has the superior roster, but if Porzingis is <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/10\/boston-celtics-star-reveals-status-for-game-3-kristaps-porzingis\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">unavailable for Game 3<\/a> (or beyond), he will be missed against the Mavs. Of course, ageless wonder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/horfoal01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Al Horford<\/a> has excelled this series with his own defensive versatility. Nonetheless, he\u2019s still half a foot shorter than the Latvian giant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic realized his team would be heading to the NBA Finals, he already knew that he\u2019d be playing through injury. Will Injuries Become Tale of 2024 NBA Finals? Nine months into the 2023-24 season, anyone that\u2019s made it this far is at least a little nicked up. A sore spot [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":81179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,5,30,3],"tags":[49245,138,1133,4745,596],"class_list":["post-81175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-celtics","category-mavericks","category-news","tag-2024-nba-finals","tag-kristaps-porzingis","tag-luka-doncic","tag-nba-injuries","tag-nba-playoffs"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}