Injuries were a key storyline during Sunday's NBA playoff action. When Damian Lillard joined Milwaukee Bucks teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo on the sideline for Milwaukee's Game 4 loss due to an Achilles strain suffered Friday, he became the fourth 2024 All-Star to miss a game in the first round of the playoffs.
LA Clippers Kawhi Leonard forward missed Game 1 of his team's series against the Dallas Mavericks, and his availability for the rest of the series is now in question after he was ruled out ahead of Sunday's Game 4 in Dallas, which the Clippers won.
The NBA has been focused all season on getting stars on the court as much as possible to fight the stigma created by players and teams embracing load management. That worked well in the first half of the season, when All-Stars played far more than they have in recent campaigns. But injuries have mounted over the course of the schedule, shaping the postseason picture.
Although the Bucks have been hit harder than any playoff team, going this entire series without Giannis, they're not alone. The four injured All-Stars don't include the Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler and New Orleans Pelicans' Zion Williamson. Butler and Williamson are key contributors for their teams, who have gone a combined 1-5 in their series.
Let's look at how this year's playoff injuries compare to past years and what they mean looking forward to the remainder of the bracket.
Playoff injuries remain high
We're three years removed from blowing away the record for most All-Stars to miss a game due to injury or illness during the playoffs with 10 in 2021. That year's playoffs followed a compressed regular season that began in late December, barely more than two months after the bubble conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic-interrupted 2019-20 schedule.