Chandler Parsons Ruled out for Season, Potentially Facing Knee Surgery
The Dallas Mavericks are facing two opponents in the first round of the 2015 NBA playoffs—the Houston Rockets and the injury bug.
ESPN’s Marc Stein passed along the unfortunate news for forward Chandler Parsons:
Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com reported Rick Carlisle's thoughts, saying "Any time surgery enters the equation, it's not a good thing. I talked to him today. He's extremely disappointed."
Parsons missed Dallas’ Game 2 loss to the Rockets, although he scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds in Game 1. He averaged 15.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game during the regular season and shot 38 percent from three-point range.
This injury is even more difficult to deal with because point guard Rajon Rondo is out indefinitely with a back injury, as Stein noted.
James Herbert of CBS Sports pointed out just how taxing it will be for the Mavericks to overcome the Parsons and Rondo setbacks:
"The Mavs aren't particularly deep, and with two of their starters -- Parsons and Rajon Rondo, who sadly hit rock bottom on Tuesday and appears to be headed out of town -- unable to contribute like they hoped, they have struggled relative to the organization's high expectations.
Veteran forward Richard Jefferson has been starting for Dallas in Parsons' place, with Al-Farouq Aminu playing the bulk of the backup minutes. Jefferson is strictly a spot-up shooter at this stage of his career, which puts more pressure on Rondo and Monta Ellis to create offense. Parsons' playmaking is missed when he's not out there, and, down 2-0 in the series, it's looking like the Mavericks are going to have to play way above their heads to have any chance of coming back and winning.
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Climbing out of a 2-0 deficit against the No. 2 seed in the loaded Western Conference is difficult enough as it is, but the Mavericks’ task looks nearly impossible without Parsons and Rondo.
Parsons helps space the floor for Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki because of his three-point shooting ability, but he also contributes in the rebounding department and is a long defender who can bother opposing forwards.
Without Parsons (and Rondo) out there, Nowitzki and Ellis will have to pick up even more of the scoring slack. Both are more than capable of doing so, but it is difficult to envision a scenario where the already underdog Mavericks pull off the upset without two of their main contributors.
