Injuries infest basketball playoffs

Trainers, get your med kits ready: it’s the NBA playoffs. There seems to be more talk about the injured players than the actual players on the court. It is that time of year where the court transforms into a gauntlet and only the strongest players will make it out alive.

We can’t predict who will be next on the injured bench but we can calculate who had the worst injuries so far throughout the 2012 NBA playoffs. Let’s begin this gruesome countdown.

Not so lucky number one goes to New York Knicks point guard Baron Davis. This is one of the most serious knee injuries by far in the 2012 NBA playoffs. The nauseating feeling rises every time the clip is replayed. Davis left the court immediately on a stretcher after injuring his right knee with 5:15 left in the third quarter of Game 4 against the Miami Heat.

While driving to the basket on a fast break, Davis slipped. Due to the stomach turning graphics as Davis began to slip and the immediate holding of his right knee, the crowd obviously knew it was a serious injury. After wheeling Davis into the locker room, trainers later announced the injury as a dislocated right patella.

Number two goes to yet another Knicks player: Amar’e Stoudemire. While blowing off some steam, Stoudemire suffered a lacerated left hand due to punching a fire extinguisher. This self-implicated wound was nothing like a paper cut, half of Stoudemire’s hand was hanging off. Paramedics were called to the locker room immediately because he might have cut an artery due to the large amounts of blood squirting out.

Stoudemire was obviously going to miss Game 3 but when he was listed as doubtful for Game 4 it was hard to ignore. Amar’e Stoudemire made his appearance on the court Sunday heavily bandaged for Game 4 helping his team to an 89-87 victory over the hot Miami Heat. This time the locker room looked more like a celebration then a crime scene.

Nobody was sitting when they saw Chicago Bulls guard superstar Derrick Rose fall to the court after trying to leap off his left foot. With just 1:22 left in the Game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers, Rose suffered a torn ACL in his left knee. Derrick Rose could not be with his team to celebrate their 103-91 victory over the 76ers. Instead, hospital nurses were tending him as he received the horrific news that his season would be over that night. This was one of the saddest victories so far.