10 NBA Teams One Injury Away from Falling Apart

Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Zach Randolph, Al Horford, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Manu Ginobili and Andrea Bargnani, the list goes on and on of players that have bit the dust early in the season and have had to spend at least some time in a suit riding the pine.

Some teams have handled their star player's injuries better than others, as the Heat have continued to win, along with the Grizzlies, Spurs, Hawks and Bulls when they had issues with their star player being able to suit up.

However, other teams, like the rickety old Boston Celtics, have struggled without a full lineup and are now having to play catch-up after a few more losses than they would have expected this early in the season.

So the question that grows here is an interesting one, that's for sure. We've seen many teams out there survive an injury to their star players, but which ones will completely fall apart with their head honcho in a jacket and tie rather than sneakers and shorts?

New Jersey Nets

It seems a bit hard for a team to fall apart when they have a record of 6-13, but with the team the New Jersey Nets have, they would certainly fall even farther.

Now, New Jersey has already been knocked down a few pegs with the injury to Brook Lopez, who hasn't seen a game all season, but without Deron Williams they would be that much worse for the wear. They would lose their top scorer and ball-handler, and the next guy in line wouldn't be able to replicate what he does in the farthest reaches of your imagination.

The one game that the Nets were without Williams, instead starting Sundiata Gaines, they lost by 19 points to the Boston Celtics.

Minnesota Timberwolves

With Kevin Love playing with the effort and ability that he's been playing at, it's hard to imagine what the Timberwolves would be without him.

First of all, they have an offense where the ball isn't moved as much as it should be, and a number of their possessions seem to be just getting the ball to Kevin Love and seeing if he can make something of it.

Beyond that, he accounts for 25 points and 14 rebounds a game, plus he's been the leader of this team for the past two seasons. Try getting any of that from Anthony Randolph or Tolliver.

Boston Celtics

While everyone has seemingly danced around the subject and flat out ignored it at times, Rajon Rondo is by far the best player on the Celtics these days.

Without him, you have a hodgepodge of old dudes trying to stay on their last basketball legs long enough for the final buzzer to blow without them getting hurt, embarrassed or both.

Rondo accounts for all the misdirection, all the guile and all the depth to the Celtics offense, otherwise you have a pretty basic, straightforward game with Avery Bradley running the point.

Does that sound like a successful basketball team to you?

Of course, without him over the past three games the Celtics are 2-1 with that blowout win over the Magic. However, their other win came over the Wizards and the loss was to a very bad Suns team.

Dallas Mavericks

While the Dallas Mavericks are altogether an old and cobbled together team, they seem to get a bit of a boost when Dirk Nowitzki plays with the youthful exuberance that he does with his one-footers and just overall enjoyment for the game.

However, now that he's injured and out of the lineup for the time being, it will be interesting to see how they stay together. My guess is not very well.

Dallas has already gone through three games without the big man, which has seen them struggle for wins over the Hornets and Suns, and lose to the Timberwolves by 15 points.

Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers are a team familiar with injury problems at this point. In other news, that sentence has just been nominated for the understatement of the year.

With endless injuries over the past handful of seasons, mainly to key players like Brandon Roy and Greg Oden, Portland knows what it's like to lose a star player, and if they were to lose another one, they would finally have no way of staying afloat.

What LaMarcus Aldridge has become is better than anyone could have expected, as you could argue that he is now the best power forward in the league. 

Without him, the Trail Blazers must rely on two old big men, Kurt Thomas and Marcus Camby, to fill most of the time in the big man roles, plus they would need Craig Smith to step up as well.

Beyond that, Gerald Wallace would become their number one option (which he has done before) while either Wes Matthews or Jamal Crawford would have to step in and be number two, which I don't think is something a team would want. 

Memphis Grizzlies

It seems to me that the biggest reason the Memphis Grizzlies have survived after the injury to Zach Randolph is because of Marc Gasol.

With Gasol down low, the Grizzlies have something that most teams in the league only dream of having, and that's a big man with the ability to be dominant on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor.

Because of that, teams are forced to pay more attention to the big man down low, which allows for everyone on the Grizzlies to play with just that tiny bit of extra space with their opponents on edge.

It's the reason Rudy Gay has gotten back on track and it's the reason he and Randolph were able to dominate in the playoffs last season.

Los Angeles Lakers

I'm not here to point out anything radical like the idea that the Lakers only have Kobe Bryant to credit with their success and nobody else, I'm just here to point out the massive number of plays that he's involved in.

Kobe's massive usage percentage, which is hovering right around 39 percent, has him involved in an offense that puts him on pace for a record as the most used player in a single season in NBA history (or at least as far back as usage percentage statistics go).

So, replacing Kobe Bryant in the starting lineup with the likes of Metta World Peace or (and this one makes me cringe) Jason Kapono would lead to an offensive vacuum on the Lakers, one that would need a massive plug to fill.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks have an interesting team on their hands, as they have a great defense put together, mostly stemming from Andrew Bogut jammed down low and taking up gobs of space.

However, when he's on the sidelines, they just don't have a guy that can step up and do what he does on the floor.

When Bogut was out early this month dealing with personal problems, the Bucks were forced to start Drew Gooden in his place, playing two power forwards rather than a power forward and a center as Gooden was paired with Ersan Ilyasova. Needless to say, this did not work out as the Bucks are a whopping 0-5 without Andrew Bogut thus far.

Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic as a team is more than just Dwight Howard and a bunch of scrubs around him, but without the big man in the middle, it all falls apart in Orlando.

Dwight Howard is the reason they get so many points in the paint, he's the reason their defense is so good, and hell, he's the reason that they get so many open looks at the three-point line.

He's a force to be reckoned with on both ends of the floor, regardless of whether he has the ball or not. His mere presence is felt every second that he's on the floor just because of his substantial size.

With Howard out, Orlando would be forced to play either a combination of forwards or start (gulp) Daniel Orton.

Phoenix Suns

Without the little Canadian bee-bopping around the court, the Phoenix Suns aren't even a basketball team, they're just a bunch of guys who happen to get payed for playing basketball.

Something bad happening to Steve Nash would lead to the Suns being forced to start either Ronnie Price, who has the second-most assists on Phoenix, boasting 2.6 a game, or a full eight fewer than Nash, or Sebastian Telfair, who has bounced around the league more than any player in recent memory.

Without Nash controlling the point, Phoenix surely wouldn't be 6-11. Hell, I'm not so sure that they would have won a game at this point.

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