Atlanta Hawks small forward DeMarre Carroll was carried off the court in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals with an apparent left knee injury. Carroll was ruled out for the remainder of the game. He was injured going up for a lay-up.
In the locker room he was unable to hold his own weight. Carroll will undergo a MRI on his left knee on Thursday. His initial diagnosis is a left knee sprain. This is a photo no one wants to see.
Not good pic.twitter.com/xckaDmH9MQ
— Joe Vardon (@joevardon) May 21, 2015
Carroll struggled in Game 1 shooting 2-7 with five points and three rebounds. He averaged 12.7 points per game in the regular season. In the postseason, Carroll burst onto the scene averaging 17.1 points per game shooting 52% from the field. He has been the most reliable scorer for Atlanta this postseason.
The Atlanta Hawks are 7-6 when Carroll is out of the lineup. They will miss his defensive presence if he is out of the lineup. He is a lockdown defender and the best defensive player on the Hawks. Carroll is the most important player in this series because he is responsible for covering LeBron James. He can slow LeBron who is the one player that needs to be stopped on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
This would be a huge loss for the Atlanta Hawks. Carroll can spread the floor on offense and set the tone on defense. The Hawks have looked inconsistent throughout the first two rounds of the playoffs and could potentially be losing the most consistent player on their roster throughout the playoffs. The injury bug has plagued the Hawks at the wing position towards the end of the season.
We will have more accurate information after his MRI tomorrow. We are hoping for the best.
