Atlanta Hawks Lose Game 1 and DeMarre Carroll
The Atlanta Hawks lost Game 1 of their best of seven Eastern Conference finals series to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. The loss gave the Cavaliers home court advantage and a 1-0 lead, but whom the Hawks lost might even be more devastating to the team’s short-term future.
DeMarre Carroll the talented small forward for Atlanta who has carried much of the offensive load during the postseason, left Game 1 in the fourth quarter with what was described as a left knee sprain.
Carroll fell to the floor writhing in pain, lay on the court for a number of minutes and needed to be helped from the floor by teammates. He hopped off the court and into the locker balanced by his teammates and the medical staff for the Hawks.
Carroll is expected to have an MRI early Thursday said his coach Mike Budenholzer. Following the game, Carroll was seen leaving the arena using crutches. No one on the Hawks coaching staff or management would make a comment about how long they thought Carroll might be out of action.
Carroll was hurt driving to the basket on a fast break when he landed awkwardly while getting ready to elevate to make a layup. No contact was made by Iman Shumpert, the Cavaliers defender, who was guarding Carroll at the time.
Coaches, players and team trainers gathered around the Hawks forward while he lay on the baseline before he was taken to the locker room. He could not put any pressure on his left leg when helped from the court.
After losing Carroll to the knee injury as well as Game 1, there is nothing but great uncertainty for Atlanta and the man who has been tasked with slowing down LeBron James.
Kyle Korver a guard for Atlanta said it was difficult to watch as everyone on the team loves DeMarre as if he is our brother.
Carroll only scored 5 points and grabbed one rebound in his 35 minutes. He had been the most reliable player the Hawks have had during the postseason. In 13 postseason games, Carroll was averaging 17 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists.
During the season, Carroll averaged 12.5 point and 5.2 rebounds per game for the Hawks. Coaches had planned on Carroll slowing down Cleveland’s biggest weapon James.
James gave Carroll words of encouragement when he was helped from the floor and said afterwards that the NBA was a brotherhood and no one ever wants to see another player get hurt.
The Hawks are already shorthanded at the wing after Thabo Sefolosha was lost for the season to a broken leg in an incident with New York’s law enforcement in April.
