The Eastern Conference Finals powers at be have not been kind to the Atlanta Hawks.
Specifically Kyle Korver.
Following the Hawks’ Game 2 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution brought word that the sharp-shooting wing would miss the remainder of the postseason with a high-right ankle sprain:
BREAKING: Kyle Korver is OUT for the remainder of the playoffs with ankle injury.
— Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) May 23, 2015
Initial four-to-six month recovery period in mind, Korver is now seeking a second opinion, according to Vivlamore:
Reports that surfaced late Sunday night that Hawks guard Kyle Korver will need surgery on his severe high right ankle sprain and will miss four to six months are inaccurate.
Korver has yet to visit a foot and ankle specialist for a second opinion on the injury, which could eventually require surgery. The upcoming examinination has yet to be scheduled. When the examination is complete it will help determine a course of action.
Korver was injured in the third quarter of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cavaliers on Friday. He will miss the remainder of the postseason.
For Korver’s and the Hawks’ sakes, you hope something turns up that expedites the recovery process. But as Vivlamore himself notes at the end, this doesn’t immediately matter, regardless of the new prognosis.
On the heels of an overtime loss in Cleveland Sunday night, the Hawks now trail the Cavs 3-0 in their best-of-seven series. No NBA team has ever successfully escaped such a hole. Not. A. Single. One. The Hawks are finished in the worst way. They won 60 regular-season games and established themselves as the Eastern Conference’s best team, as well as the biggest surprise in the league, and now they’re done. Finished. Fully aware they peaked late in the regular season.
The news on Korver, then, is only relevant as it pertains to next season.
Six months on the shelf wouldn’t allow him to return until basically December, when the Hawks are already more than a month deep into the 2015-16 campaign. More than that, his injury complicates their offseason plans. DeMarre Carroll and Paul Millsap are both set to explore free agency, and it becomes even more difficult to justify keeping their core together if they’re swept in the Eastern Conference Finals by a shorthanded Cavaliers team.
Sixty wins is nothing to scoff at. Nor is a conference finals appearance. But the Hawks have some decisions to make—decisions that will be based off an entire season’s body of work, yes, yet ones that must take into account injuries and an armor-coated ceiling they couldn’t break through and this year, as currently constructed, may not rise above next year.
