Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela got elbowed in the face late in the 110-88 Game 4 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night. Capela had to go to the locker room with an eye injury after the play and will be reevaluated on Wednesday, but ESPN's Tim Bontemps reports there's optimism about him playing in Thursday's crucial Game 5 with the series all tied up at 2-2.
Here's video of Capela getting whacked in the face by Sam Merrill:
And now Clint Capela is down after taking an elbow to the nose/eye. Ban injuries. pic.twitter.com/MbPIcHtDFd
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) June 30, 2021
One has to wonder just what Capela was doing out there in a 22-point game with just over three minutes to play, but let's hope Bontemps' report is correct. Losing the defensive anchor late in a blowout win would be a brutal blow for Atlanta.
This series — like these playoffs in general — has become all about injuries. Hawks star Trae Young missed Game 4 with a foot injury, and then Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a nasty-looking knee injury during the contest. Then Capela got hurt as well. Bogdan Bogdanovic was also dealing with an injury earlier in the series.
Out of all these, The Greek Freak's injury seems to be the worst, so the Bucks are just hoping for the best with him at this point. Young's status isn't clear either for Game 5, though, so there's a chance both teams will be missing their best player.
As for Capela, he has been huge in the middle after the Hawks acquired him last season from the Houston Rockets. While he didn't actually play for Atlanta last season because of injuries, he averaged 15.2 points, 14.3 rebounds (tops in the NBA) and 2.0 blocks in 63 games in 2020-21. His numbers haven't been as prolific in the playoffs, but he has still been key for the Hawks during their impressive run.
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