NBA playoff injuries: Joakim Noah, Kenneth Faried among those ailing

• Flannery: Carmelo’s time is now

• Sharp: The West playoffs are perfect

Faried injured his ankle on April 14. An MRI revealed no fractures, and he was diagnosed with a strain of the anterior talofibular ligament. He spoke with reporters about his recovery for the playoffs on Thursday (via The Denver Post):

The 23-year-old forward averaged 11.5 points on 55.2 percent shooting and 9.2 rebounds in 28.1 minutes per game for the Nuggets this season. He started 80 games for the team and then missed the final two contests of the year due to the injury.

Prigioni’s availability for Game 2 was not addressed. Seth Rosenthal of Knicks blog Posting and Toasting noted that without Prigioni the other backcourt players for the Knicks will be pressed to cover the gap in a fragmented fashion:

The 36-year-old guard posted modest averages of 3.5 points and 3.0 assists in 16.2 minutes per game over 78 contests this season, but he started to play particularly well down the stretch for New York. In the final 10 games of the season, Prigioni played 22.1 minutes per game and shot 56.3 percent from the field to bolster his contributions on defense. In the most recent matchup against the Celtics, he logged a team-high 33 minutes in a 108-89 win at Madison Square Garden.

Thibodeau and the Bulls are notorious for providing opaque injury updates, but in the wake of Noah’s poor showing in the regular season finale he had this to say to ESPN Chicago 1000’s “Waddle & Silvy Show” when asked if Noah may not play against the Nets: “It’s possible, yeah; he’s still day to day. If he has soreness, we’re going to take it as it comes.” The time line for his recovery is unclear (via ESPN):

Noah spoke with the media about his injury after the team’s final regular season game on Wednesday, and here’s what he said:

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said the veteran point guard has gone through a “limited workout,” but Nash revealed that he’s not quite up to speed yet (via Yahoo! Sports):

Kupchak noted that the decision will be up to Nash for when he returns.