It was not a good evening to be a fan of the Atlanta Hawks as star forward DeMarre Carroll went down with a knee injury during the 4th quarter of the teams’ 97-89 loss to Cleveland in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Carroll played college basketball at the University of Missouri where he starred for two seasons under 
head coach Mike Anderson. He was instrumental in leading a Missouri squad (who had not made the NCAA Tournament for 5 consecutive seasons prior) to the Elite 8 in 2009 before being drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies. After short stints with the Rockets, Nuggets and Jazz, Carroll landed in Atlanta in 2013 and has provided an immeasurable lift for the up-and-coming franchise. The team certainly had high hopes after notching the best record in the Eastern Conference, but if Carroll’s services are lost for any significant amount of time, then those once high hopes would diminish astronomically.
