The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

WHOEVER’S job it was to wish and pray for a good playoff tournament in the NBA this year ... that person clearly forgot to show up for work this post-season.

As the league pushes through its second week of action, major injuries have become the focal point for an already struggling product, with premier players being hit by the injury bug left, right and centre.

While the Eastern Conference has been spared so far, the Western Conference has been devastated. Chris Paul, Stephen Curry and Blake Griffin are all sidelined for extended stretches.

The NBA wanted to avoid this more than anything. The star potential of teams was the only thing the league had to hang its hat on amidst a post-season stuffed with horrible games.

The Golden State Warriors, coming off an historic campaign that saw the team secure a record 73 wins, were looking to match that pace in the post-season.

In 1995-1996, the Chicago Bulls posted 72 wins and finished the post-season with a 15-3 win-loss record, bringing the team’s overall season tally to 87-13, a record many experts predicted the Warriors would eclipse.

Now with Curry, the expected league MVP this season, sidelined for at least two weeks with a MCL sprain of his right knee he suffered near the end of the second quarter of the Warriors blowout game four win on Sunday, can Golden State still chase the vaunted record?

They can, but it will be extremely difficult to do so without Curry. In game three of the series, a game that Curry sat out, the Rockets pulled out a one-point win. The Rockets, a struggling defensive team, are not expected to capitalise on the absence of Curry but it’s the teams the Warriors are expected to face in the coming round that can pose many issues.

The Warriors would face the winners of the Clippers-Blazers series. Currently tied at two games each, the series has become a first-round thriller, albeit because of injuries.

The Clippers were not expected to chase history or dethrone the Warriors but they were expected to give Golden State a good match-up. The loss of the team’s two best players, however, has forced Head Coach Doc Rivers to turn to a deep beach for key possessions.

For most of this season, Rivers has lauded the depth and superb play from all 15 players, often calling the bench the reason for the Clippers success. On Tuesday, Chris Paul underwent surgery in Los Angeles to repair a forearm fracture and has been ruled out indefinitely. He suffered the injury in the third quarter of Monday’s game four.

The point guard was having a MVP-like post-season and, despite the opposition, was looking to guide the Clippers to their first championship in the team’s history. Blake Griffin, the team’s star power forward, has been ruled out entirely for the playoffs after a slight tear was discovered in his quad tendon. Griffin was limited in Monday night’s 98-84 loss because of the injury, initially sustained on Christmas Day.

My take on the matter is this: the Clippers figured that Chris Paul was done and didn’t see a need to rush Blake back. There are some making the case that his quad injury was something he could have played with; however, doctors have decided against that and shut him down for the remainder of the year.

While I trust the likes of Jamal Crawford, Austin Rivers, JJ Riddick and Deandre Jordan, the facts point to them not being enough to overcome the hungry Trailblazers, much less a Curry-less Warriors.

Only time will tell which team - Warriors or Clippers - are better equipped to deal with these rash of injuries.

However, whichever team make it out of this bracket, one of two healthy teams await them - either the San Antonio Spurs or the Oklahoma City Thunder.

• Ricardo Wells writes every Thursday on the NBA. Comments to rwells@tribunemedia.net