In a case of literally adding insult to injury, the Dallas Mavericks 2016 NBA Playoffs trip is off to an atrocious start. In game 1 of their first round matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Mavs were handled in a blowout loss and during the game, their starting backcourt of Deron Williams and J.J. Barea performed horribly and they might be missing game two of this series.
Following from Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas.
Barea will definitely miss Game 2 due to a groin strain that sidelined him for two of the Mavs’ last three regular-season games. He aggravated the injury on a layup during the second quarter Saturday night and did not return to the game after fouling the next possession.
Williams is listed as doubtful due to a sports hernia that caused him to miss eight games late in the regular season. He performed poorly in Game 1, scoring only 2 points on 1-of-9 shooting in 22 minutes.
“It’s hurt a little bit at some point in every game I’ve played,” said Williams… “Pretty much as soon as the game started, especially on defense and trying to run back, I could feel it. It was definitely hurting, so I went in the back and wrapped it and did some other stuff. I came back out and as the game went on, it just got worse and worse. It was hard for me to run, hard for me to move.”
Barea’s status for the rest of the series is uncertain.
“No way tomorrow, and we’ll see how it goes this week,” said Barea… “Hopefully, I can try again on Thursday and go from there. These things take a little longer to heal, but I was feeling all right. I wasn’t 100 percent, wasn’t myself, but I was able to move. Then I did it again.”
