SBN Reacts: Injuries are already making an impact on the NBA Playoffs

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Each week we ask questions of the most plugged-in Phoenix Suns fans and fans of all teams across the country.

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Remember when 91% of Phoenix Suns fans and 79% of fans all across the nation believed the Suns would win their first round matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers?

The oddsmakers at DraftKings certainly had the Suns as the favorites too — with an overall moneyline of -500 to win the series.

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Why? Partially because the Suns had added Kevin Durant. And partially because the Clippers had lost Paul George to injury.

I wrote last week, before the series started that:

The Clippers are potentially the best team the Suns have played in the West playoffs over these last three years, even without Paul George healthy. Kawhi’s Clips are certainly as good as any West team the Suns have faced.

So when the Clippers throttled the Suns in Game 1 and held the lead for all but one second of the first half of Game 2, we should not have been surprised.

Yet, the Paul George injury is still a big missing issue for the Clippers. Fans across the nation this week were asked if, for the hundredth year in a row, injuries to stars would impact the outcome of the NBA Playoffs and there is already a growing sentiment that they might.

Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies might be lost for the series with a sprained hand suffered in Game 1 against the Lakers. And Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks is day to day against the Miami Heat. Their teams won their home games anyway, but we’ll see how those injuries impact them in road games starting this weekend.

Meanwhile, the Suns are healthy. They just need to get their schemes in order, and figure out how to consistently beat the Clippers changing their defensive assignments on nearly every possession.

The Suns are tied 1-1 in the series, and now will play Games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles over the next three days. For what it’s worth, DraftKings still has the Suns as a 3-point favorite in the game tonight on the road in LA and in the series overall (-280 moneyline).

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