When Hawks small forward DeMarre Carroll buckled his right knee last night and spent the next few minutes writhing on the floor in agony, it sure as hell looked like the Hawks had just lost their best perimeter defender to a catastrophic knee injury. But today brings good news!
This is huge for the Hawks, as Carroll is the only wing on the roster who has the size and athletic ability necessary to even have a chance at guarding LeBron James (they have the NYPD to thank for the fact that their other competent perimeter defender isn’t on the playoff roster). When Carroll went out last night, the Hawks had to switch Paul Millsap onto LeBron, which actually worked as sort of a mindfuck for a while—LeBron was so committed to blowing by the slower-footed Millsap that he ran himself into quite a few ugly iso-ball possessions—but as LeBron’s emphatic, game-sealing dunk proved, Millsap ain’t the answer.
This is some good news that the Hawks, and everyone who wants this series to be competitive, needed.