The Atlanta Hawks camp has an initial optimism that Clint Capela didn’t suffer a major right knee injury in their playoff clinching win against the Cleveland Cavaliers (hat tip to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski). But this one is yet to be determined once the big man undergoes an MRI on Saturday.
Capela left the floor of the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse with 30.7 seconds remaining in the first half, mincing in pain after Evan Mobley fell into his knee upon a controversial pull that was ruled out as a regular foul. He was declared unavailable to return, finishing with seven points and eight boards.
With the road win behind the second half eruption of franchise man Trae Young, the Hawks flew towards the final spot of the Eastern Conference playoff seat and are set to face the No. 1 Miami Heat in a best-of-seven, first round series.
Game 1 is on Sunday, with Miami holding the home court advantage. As such, Capela’s experience, paint presence and shot blocking will be needed by Atlanta against the smothering challenge that Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo will present.
