The Atlanta Hawks battled back to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the play-in tournament Friday night. Their triumphant victory advanced Atlanta to the 2022 NBA Playoffs. During the win, Clint Capela suffered a knee injury in the first half that forced him to miss the rest of the game.
Shortly afterward, news broke that the starting center would be undergoing MRI testing to find out the severity of the injury.
According to NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Capela had testing done on his right knee on Saturday. The MRI results revealed no “structural damage,” and he will be evaluated again in a week. Woj tweeted the update Saturday afternoon.
MRI on Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela's right knee revealed no structural damage and he's expected to be evaluated again in a week, sources tell ESPN. He will clearly miss significant time in this Hawks-Heat playoff series, if he's even able to return before it's over.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 16, 2022
This is a crucial update for the Hawks, who will have to play at least the first three games of the series without their starting center. Capela averages 11.1 points, 1.2 assists, and 11.9 rebounds each game. His consistent double-double contributions are huge reasons for the Hawks' overarching success.
As Woj mentioned, there is a possibility that Capela could rejoin his teammates for the second half of the series, if it goes beyond four games.
It would be remarkable if the eighth seed Hawks pull off the underdog win against the first seed Miami Heat. It would be even crazier if they won without such a key contributor in Capela. If they come up with the series win, the Hawks will take on the winner of the Toronto Raptors vs. Philadelphia 76ers series in the Conference Semifinals.
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