Demarre Carroll is the heart and soul of the Atlanta Hawks squad. He is also the only player on the Hawks that can guard Lebron James with any kind of success.
So when Carroll went down in the fourth quarter clutching his left knee on a noncontact injury in transition, it was doubly impactful for the Hawks. They lost their grit-and-grind guy, along with their best one-on-one defender.
Carroll left knee injured… https://t.co/YdhHTzodh1
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) May 21, 2015
The fact that this was a noncontact injury should scare Atlanta fans. It didn’t appear like there was any incidental contact on the fastbreak with any of the Cavaliers that could cause the injury, indicating that he went down on his own. David Aldridge reported a couple of minutes later that he would not be returning, despite the close game and would have an MRI tomorrow.
Carroll was having a stellar postseason, averaging 17.1 point per game and 6.8 boards on 52 percent shooting from the field. Although there is some reason for optimism, it does not appear good for Carroll and the Hawks.
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