Another year, another injury-filled NBA campaign—physical setbacks have indeed exerted their destructive impact on teams across the Association in 2013-2014.

All season long, squads have incurred devastating injuries to marquee players.

This rather melancholy list includes Derrick Rose, Brook Lopez, Al Horford, Chris Paul, Marc Gasol and of course, Kobe Bryant.

Every team but Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers mentioned above somehow remains in postseason contention. Even the Horford-less, 31-38 Atlanta Hawks still enjoy the No. 8 seed in a wretched Eastern Conference.

Yet, what about the playoff clubs that have suffered personnel losses more recently? How have they been affected?

Let’s now highlight the major injuries that have impacted NBA teams down the stretch.

Honorable Mentions

Let’s first acknowledge a few teams that have kept their head above water despite injuries to key assets.

In the East, the Bulls impressively maintain the fourth seed without franchise leader Rose on the floor. The Nets are locked in at No. 5 without all-star center Lopez. Both players are lost for the season.

The Washington Wizards, meanwhile, haven’t been overly affected without Nene Hilario starting at power forward. They have gone 8-6 since he sustained a strained left MCL one month ago.

Out West, the Suns and Grizzlies currently occupy the final two playoff seeds in spite of critical pieces Eric Bledsoe, Tony Allen and Gasol missing extended action.

Furthermore, the Houston Rockets recently went 3-0 sans Dwight Howard, while the Los Angeles Clippers have cruised to 50 wins with their entire backcourt of Paul, J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford missing a combined 68 games.

And the San Antonio Spurs, of course, have used 25 different starting lineups, but still own the NBA’s best record.

Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers (5-Plus Games Missed)

The 27-44 Cavaliers? Please bear with us.

Point guard Kyrie Irving received a diagnosis of a torn left biceps last Monday after registering just 10 minutes against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 16.

He has missed four whole games in addition to most of the contest in which he initially suffered the injury. Doctors mandated a resting period of two weeks before they determine if he will return at all this season.

The Cavaliers have gone just 1-4 since their star floor general went down (Clippers matchup included). And the bottom has fallen out completely.

A once playoff hopeful now sits decidedly out of contention. Cleveland is five games behind the Hawks with just 11 remaining on the schedule.

The Cavaliers began this season as a presumptive mid-conference postseason seed. There were even rumblings of them winning a first-round series.

Now that they’re all but finished in the playoff chase, well, things really can’t get any worse for the city of Cleveland.

Andre Iguodala, Golden State Warriors (3 Games Missed)

A mere three games might not appear significant at first glance.

But here’s why the opposite is true for Golden State.

Small forward Andre Iguodala missed the Warriors’ last three games. They fortunately managed a 2-1 record, but those two wins came against the hapless Orlando Magic and Milwaukee Bucks.

They allowed 110 points at home to the Association’s worst in a game that came down to the final minute. Milwaukee also shot 48.8 percent from the floor with Harrison Barnes starting in place of the Warriors’ elite wing defender.

Worse yet, they lost to a Spurs team missing both Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. San Antonio hit 10 three-pointers en route to a 99-90 victory and third consecutive this season over Golden State.

If the Warriors advance to the second round of the playoffs, they will more than likely square off with the Spurs for the second-straight year. Reversing history will absolutely require Iguodala’s services on defense and as point forward.

However, the Rockets—a potential opponent in Round One—beat the Warriors twice in December when an early-season injury got the best of Iguodala. Golden State then avenged those two defeats in 102-99 overtime fashion with No. 9 back on the hardwood.

So, in order to win any postseason series, the Warriors must have Iguodala in the lineup.

LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers (6 Games Missed)

Here is why all-star players are All Stars in the first place.

In his initial five-game absence, the Blazers accumulated four wins and just one loss without LaMarcus Aldridge. But they also beat up on the non-playoff Utah Jazz, Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets.

Their one loss materialized versus the Spurs—a possible first-round foe in the playoffs.

More revealing, however, is Portland’s recent performance without its elite power forward.

The Blazers are 3-3 since March 14, but have lost to the postseason-qualifying Warriors, Charlotte Bobcats and Miami Heat. They allowed over 100 points in five of those contests and suffered two last-second defeats without the offensive provided by Aldridge.

Portland is a team that relies heavily on its second-leading scoring output (107.3 PPG). Terry Stotts’ contingent simply cannot overcome the league’s eighth-worse scoring defense (103.4 PPG) with Aldridge riding the bench.

That dynamic will become especially apparent if the Blazers match up with the high-flying Rockets in the opening round (as playoff seeds currently dictate).

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder (It’s Complicated)

The ongoing dynamic of Russell Westbrook on-versus-off-the-floor will likely confound outsiders for the rest of time.

During the first three games Westbrook missed in October and November, the Thunder went 2-1. They also exploited the Timberwolves and Jazz (twice), rendering this first sample relatively uninformative.

Then, when Westbrook rocked street clothes from December 27 to February 13, the Thunder crushed the opposition behind an unstoppable Kevin Durant. They went 20-7 in that span, including a 10-game winning streak.

The all-world point guard returned on February 20, and Oklahoma City proceeded to drop its next three games. Scott Brooks’ squad emerged victorious in the following three contests, but then continued its sporadic ways by going 2-2 over the next four.

A sans-Westbrook Thunder have since produced a 2-1 record in this springtime month.

The point of this circuitous run down memory lane is to convey how unpredictable Westbrook’s presence—and lack thereof—makes Oklahoma City.

No one can deny the dominant 22-8 mark that this club has achieved without Westbrook.

But can anyone really understand why the Thunder win nearly as much as they lose (7-5 since Feb. 20) with the high-scoring, upper-echelon-rebounding, triple-double-accumulating hardwood general off the floor?

One way or another, Westbrook’s knee-related issues have and will continue to impact Oklahoma City—a conceivable title-holder in June—the most down the stretch.

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