Sure, 16 teams make the , but our NBA expert tells you why only these four have a chance to play June .

those keeping count, the Heat have guard George Hill and newcomer will need For lost one playoff series since LeBron James to play efficient and effective basketball on both ends for took his talents to South Beach three years Indiana throughout the playoffs. ago ( Mavericks, 2011 NBA Finals). After a Game 7 Finals defeat, the Spurs quietly have the best record in the league and they know the clock is ticking. The Spurs are the team that no one wants to talk about. is without a doubt the NBA MVP. If he wants They seem to like it that way. another chance at the NBA Finals, the Thunder will have The Spurs know that their championship window is clos- to make it through the Western Conference ing and this could be their last opportunity to take home gauntlet. The have been rings with this . is still playing knocking on the Heat’s door for the past at a superstar level but the Spurs don’t have many two seasons. Are the Pacers ready to take more opportunities to pick up their fifth champi- the next step and dethrone the Heat? onship in the last 15 years. Head coach Greg These four teams are the true contenders in Popavich always has the Spurs ready to win their respective conferences. They each have playoff series and this year will be no different. championship expectations and if we are is another player that everyone lucky they will have to go through each other overlooks until the playoffs begin. He is right in the playoffs. Similar to last season’s NBA around his career averages with 17 ppg and conclusion, the difference between a championship and six apg on the season and has been playing a disappointing defeat will be the role players and their exceptional all year but the veteran will have impacts on each playoff series. his hands full against some of the great Let’s take a look at what it will take for the East and guards out West. West contenders to be the last team standing in June. New addition to the Spurs has been the necessary spark plug off of the bench. Starters and Tiago The best player in the world will not be the deciding Splitter will need to make an impact if the factor in the Heat’s quest for greatness this postseason. Spurs hope to win the championship this James was the NBA Finals MVP last June but year. was the hero as he knocked down one of the greatest shots in NBA history in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals. James will need each of his teammates to be on their This has been Kevin Durant’s year. The A+ game if they expect to pull off the rare three-peat. prolific scorer will take home this first Dwayne Wade’s knees will be a huge factor as James NBA MVP award after dominating every will need close to 20-25 a night from him and opponent in his path. The 6’11” forward in the playoffs. The spotlight is also on who has 11 40 point games and two 50 point was brought in to help take down opponents with ad- performances, combined with averages of 32 vantages in size and depth. Miami will need all hands on ppg, seven rebounds and six assists, all while deck and this might be their toughest postseason yet. shooting above 50% from the field. Durant is a scoring machine and is hungry for another shot at Indiana Pacers the NBA Finals. After losing to the Heat in Game 7 of the 2013 Eastern Confer- Durant is the MVP but he will need his running mate ence Finals, the Indiana Pacers have entered every game this at full strength for the Thunder to be season with a playoff focus and mindset. The #1 seed in the a legitimate threat to win it all. Last year showed that the East and home court advantage is their goal and that might be Thunder are one injury away from irrelevance after West- the only way to take down Miami and make it to the NBA Finals. brook went down with a torn meniscus in the first round of , , and Roy the 2013 NBA Playoffs. Hibbert lead the way for this deep Pacers roster. Indiana The NBA Playoffs are right around the corner and doubt also has a bench full of players that could start for other is beginning to set in for Oklahoma City. Other teams out NBA teams. The Pacers finally have the pieces and experi- West are ready to make runs of their own and the Thunder ence to put together a championship run and will need to get back to championship form soon if they play will determine their fate in the playoffs. Starting point want to become NBA champions.

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ON BENDED KNEE ACL injuries and their effects on the NBA.

cruciate ligament summer after the injury.” Why is hoops getting hit so hard? Anterior tears have become According to the Mayo Clinic, im- “I think that the game is changing,” commonplace in pro mediately people hear or feel a “pop” swingman Iman sports. A sudden and awkward move in their knee when the injury occurs. Shumpert says. Shumpert, like Rose, while cutting and driving to the bas- Danilo tore his ACL in the 2012 NBA playoffs. ket can force players to miss a ton of Gallinari averaged 16.2 points and “Now people are contorting their time in their playing career. 5.2 rebounds last season before tear- bodies in different ways. I think they’re The ACL ligament inside the knee ing both his meniscus and his ACL putting more pressure on their knees joint controls lateral movement, some- last season. “I felt a lot of pain for 10 than they were back in the day.” thing hoopers need with sudden stops minutes,” Gallinari says. “I think it’s occurring more often and changes in the flow of the game. “It’s a long rehab, but it’s just how because athletes are bigger and Since 2012, some of the top names it is for ACL stuff.” stronger,” says orthopedic surgeon Dr. in the NBA have gone down with the The ACL injury has been more James Andrews. “They’re cutting and injury. The Bulls’ Derrick prevalent in football. As of January putting more force on their ACL. I think Rose, ’ , 2014, 61 NFL players have suffered we’re seeing it more often because of the ’ Lou Williams, and ACL injuries. Most notably, Rams QB the strength and size of some of our the New York Knicks’ Sam Bradford and the Patriots’ Rob athletes in the different sports.” are a few of the many casualties. Gronkowski. According to CBS Sports’ After missing all of last season with “It is a tough injury,” Los Angeles Ken Berger, before the NBA’s recent an ACL injury to his left knee in the 2012 Clippers guard Jamal Crawford tells The spike in the injury, was NBA playoffs, Derrick Rose scored 12 Source. Crawford tore his left ACL and the first current All-Star to tear his ACL points and 4 assists in a 107-95 loss to meniscus in the summer of 2001 while since in 1995. Before the Miami Heat in his return this season. playing a pick-up basketball game with that injury, former New York Knick Ber- He was criticized for sitting out all of last . “I don’t think I really felt nard King was the last notable All-Star season as he rehabbed his injury. Rose 100 percent until I started playing in the to succumb to the injury in 1985. admits that he never felt any pressure to

thesource 036 thesource.com return to the court. missed his entire rookie season in portant than the surgery itself,” says “No, not at all,” says Rose. “Even 2000 with an ACL injury. He admits Dr. Andrews. The primary focus is with the performance I had, there is that the biggest hurdle was regaining regaining the ability to fully straighten no pressure because I know I’m going confidence: “You don’t want to do the knee. A physical therapist’s job to have a breakthrough game. I have certain moves and make certain plays is to help a player walk with aerobic to continue to work hard and I know because you think your leg will give work and riding a stationary bike to it’s going to come to me.” improve strength and mo- The three-time All-Star tion of the knee. point guard avenged his “You have to restrength- loss in 33 minutes of ac- en the knee after the sur- tion against the New York gery,” says Dr. Amy Tran, a Knicks a day later. Despite sports physical therapist in going 7/23, Rose sank a Santa Monica, California. game-winning floater over Just ask Iman Shump- two defenders in an 82-81 ert, who returned to the win. After playing only 10 court after eight long games this season, Rose months of hard work in tore his medial meniscus rehab. “Every day you hit a in his right knee in No- milestone,” says Shump- vember and had season- ert. “Every week you do ending surgery to repair something a little bit more. the damage. He will sit out You get a little bit more the rest of this season. An flexibility in the leg.” injury to an All-Star in his According to Tran, physi- prime is rare. At 25, Rose cal therapy before and after has career stats of 20.8 points and out and you’ll tear your ACL again.” surgery is key to a successful recovery: 6.8 rebounds, yet has only played 49 Rehabilitation is the biggest piece “I tell my athletes all of the time that games in his last two seasons. of the puzzle for basketball players they have to be compliant with their “I think D-Rose will bounce back returning to the court after surgery. program and consistent with exercises strong,” retired NBA veteran Speedy They’re learning how to walk all over in addition to strengthening, training, Claxton tells The Source. Claxton again. “The rehabilitation is more im- and icing.” —Brandon Robinson “EVERY WEEK YOU DO SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT MORE. YOU GET A LITTLE BIT MORE FLEXIBILITY IN THE LEG.”—Iman Shumpert

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