John Henson
John Henson most likely suffered a setback with his right hamstring injury when he attempted to play through it on Friday. He first started experiencing tightness in his hamstring last Sunday but only missed one game. The Inside Injuries algorithm calculated a 2-3 week Optimal Recovery Time, so he wasn’t anywhere near 100% healed when he returned to action. Hamstring injuries are already tricky injuries, and playing through them before the muscle has completely healed puts the player at an increased injury risk.
Sure enough, Henson was back on the sidelines on Saturday after aggravating the injury in his first game back. There is no word yet on his return, but he will have gotten almost two weeks of rest if he returns in the first game after the All-Star break. An additional three weeks was added to Henson’s Optimal Recovery Time after the setback, an absence he could have avoided had he not tried to play through the injury before he was 100%.
Joel Embiid
If Joel Embiid and the 76ers haven’t learned by now that Embiid should sit out at the first sign of injury, I’m not sure they ever will. Embiid has been listed with right ankle soreness for each of the last two games, but he continued to play. He described the injury as being “pretty painful.” Not only did he play through an injury in the last two games, but the past two games were also a back-to-back set.
The Process needs two weeks of rest and recovery before he’s back to 100% according to Inside Injuries’ metrics. Embiid will get a few days of rest with the All-Star break fast approaching, but he is currently scheduled to participate in the game on Sunday. His injury history, especially with lower body injuries, is already a concern, and playing through the ankle injury has put him back at a High Injury Risk. He almost always performs when he’s on the court, but he is prone to lengthy injury absences. A multi-week absence could be in his future if he continues to play through minor injuries.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Those of you who have Giannis Antetokounmpo on your fantasy roster may have breathed a sigh of relief last week when it appeared he had put his ankle rolls behind him. Unfortunately, the risk has not disappeared just yet.
It all started when Antetokounmpo suffered a pretty severe ankle roll on February 1. He barely put any weight on his ankle after the game and had a bad limp as he went to the locker room. His first mistake was playing in the following game, which happened to be the next day. The Inside Injuries algorithm calculated a grade 1 ankle sprain and a 2-3 week Optimal Recovery Time, but Antetokounmpo was playing on his injured ankle less than 24 hours later. He rolled the ankle again last Sunday and had to get it re-taped before finishing out the game. After the game, Antetokounmpo admitted that he had twisted his ankle twice in the past week but also said that he planned to keep playing through the injury. The second roll added an additional two weeks to his Optimal Recovery Time.
The Greek Freak isn’t showing much sign of an ankle injury at this point, but the only thing currently in his favor is the All-Star break, and he won’t even get that much of a break as he represents the Western Conference in the All-Star game. At 6’11, Giannis is at an even higher injury risk playing through a lower body injury. It’s only a matter of time before the instability in his ankle slows him down.
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