2015 NBA Playoffs: DeMarre Carroll active, will start in Game 2

Earlier on Friday evening, it was announced that Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving has been ruled out for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. After much deliberation, the Atlanta Hawks have indicated that small forward DeMarre Carroll will be active on Friday, and he will be in the starting lineup despite a visible limp.

Carroll suffered what appeared to be a debilitating knee injury in the second half of Game 1, but the news has been positive surrounding his recovery, and he was listed as a "game-time decision" in advance of Friday night. With that, his pregame routine was apparently enough to satisfy any lingering concern to the point where he will start.

The Hawks will be forced to turn to some combination of Paul Millsap, Kent Bazemore and others (Kyle Korver?) against LeBron James defensively if Carroll is limited in any fashion, while Cleveland will likely deploy Matthew Dellavedova for extended minutes at the point guard position in place of Irving. It will be interesting to see what kind of workload Carroll can endure, but he will give it a go.

It remains to be seen which team will feel the effects of their roster limitations to a greater degree in Game 2, but in an absolute must-win spot for Atlanta, the pressure is squarely on the home team. Now, we all wait to see what DeMarre Carroll has in the tank.