By now you've probably seen the stat that more All-Stars have missed games in this year's NBA playoffs (eight) than any before on record, per Elias Sports Bureau research, beating the previous record of six.
But that only begins to describe the impact injuries have had on a postseason unlike any other.
Whether it's those playing through injuries (including MVP runner-up Joel Embiid and former winner James Harden), players hoping to come back soon (All-Stars Mike Conley Jr. and Kyrie Irving) or those whose status going forward remains uncertain (led by Kawhi Leonard, who's been perhaps the most valuable player in the playoffs), injury news has dominated the NBA landscape this week and all postseason long.
A high number of injuries occurring in the playoffs
Instead of looking just at All-Star players, the method I've used to look at playoff injuries is games missed by players who averaged at least 25 minutes per game in the playoffs (or the regular season, if they missed the entire playoffs because of injury).
By those standards, the 2021 playoffs have already seen more games missed due to injury than almost any before the past five years.
Through Wednesday's Game 5s of the conference semifinals, the 70 games missed by qualifying players due to injury were tied for fourth most since 1978.
The distribution of injuries has been somewhat different than last year's resumption of play in the bubble, the current high-water mark for games missed by regulars in the playoffs. In 2020, a large percentage of those injuries were suffered prior to the start of the playoffs, with 12 players missing their teams' entire postseason run -- including Irving and Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons.
Despite the high number of injuries during the regular season, the league's stars actually reached the playoffs in relatively decent health. Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics is the lone All-Star to miss the entire playoffs because of injury. (Donovan Mitchell also missed the opening game before being cleared to return from an ankle sprain.)
Already, 10 players who have averaged at least 25 minutes per game have missed at least one game because of an injury suffered in the playoffs. That's one shy of the all-time high, which came in 2017, and two more than last year's playoffs. And that group doesn't include two injured starters, Donte DiVincenzo of the Bucks and Danny Green of the 76ers, who fell just shy of the minutes threshold in part because they were injured early in games.
The healthiest team typically wins the title
Injuries playing a key role in deciding the NBA playoffs is nothing new. In 2016, I found that just two champions since 1978 had a player who averaged at least 25 minutes per game in the playoffs miss more than two games because of injury. Since then, the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors (Andre Iguodala) have joined the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (Toni Kukoc) and 2011-12 Miami Heat (Chris Bosh) as three champions overcoming a long-term injury to a key player suffered in the playoffs over the past 43 years.
There's a good chance we'll add a fourth team to the list next month.
Of the seven remaining active teams, three already qualify: the Atlanta Hawks (De'Andre Hunter), Nets (Harden) and Utah Jazz (Mike Conley). The Clippers will join them if Leonard misses a third game and the 76ers might also if Green returns and averages more than 25 minutes per game the rest of the playoffs. That leaves the Bucks (down DiVincenzo) and Phoenix Suns (who on Wednesday saw All-Star point guard Chris Paul enter the NBA's health and safety protocols) as the lone exceptions.
In part, it's inevitable that as injuries become more common in the postseason, they'll cancel each other to some extent. For example, the Warriors escaped the 2018 Western Conference finals without the injured Iguodala in part because of Paul's subsequent hamstring injury, which sidelined him for the final two games.
What's unusual this season is the number of twists and turns due to injury.
Topsy-turvy playoff odds
In recent years, there has often been a key series defined by injuries. The 2018 West finals certainly qualified. So, too, did the 2019 NBA Finals, when the availability of Durant and Klay Thompson helped turn the Warriors from favorites to underdogs to favorites (again) to losers. And while the Los Angeles Lakers were always favored, last year's Finals changed dramatically when Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic both suffered injuries in Game 1.
This season, we've seen multiple series that qualify prior to the conference finals.
That started in the opening round during the Suns-Lakers series, in which the Lakers opened as favorites to win the West from the seventh seed. The Lakers looked well on their way to winning the series when they took a 2-1 lead with Paul hampered by a shoulder contusion. Then Anthony Davis left Game 4 with a groin strain, returning briefly and ineffectively at the start of Game 6, and Phoenix won three straight to take the series with Paul looking more like his usual self.
The Nets-Bucks series saw Harden go down with a hamstring injury early in Game 1. Brooklyn still took a 2-0 lead, but when Irving suffered an ankle sprain in the first half of Game 4, Milwaukee evened the series and the Nets appeared set to play Game 5 with neither All-Star guard. Even after Harden was cleared to play, the Bucks were favored to win in Brooklyn. Instead, Durant dominated and the series shifted again.
Like Harden, Conley reinjured his hamstring, in his case in the late stages of the Jazz's opening-round win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Conley's absence was felt in Games 3 and 4, as the Clippers dominated to tie up the series 2-2, only to lose Leonard to a knee sprain that sidelined him for Wednesday's Game 5.
There was no shortage of NBA storylines Wednesday, as two teams announced coaching changes, the Dallas Mavericks announced the departure of longtime GM Donnie Nelson and the Hawks made a historic comeback to beat the 76ers. Nonetheless, Leonard's injury dominated the news cycle. Surprisingly, the Clippers still went into Salt Lake City and won to take a 3-2 lead.
If Conley can come back for Friday's Game 6, there may be yet another turn left in that series. And with Embiid and Harden playing through injuries and Irving hoping to return, health figures to remain the talking point of the 2021 playoffs.