Of all the mornings to call in sick to work, Rajon Rondo had to pick the eve of the Celtics' playoff opener.
As the hours tick away and the Celtics' Game 1 meeting with the Miami Heat on Saturday night approaches, the flu bug continues to spread around the Celtics' roster. It hit Tony Allen early this week, forcing him to miss the final two games of the regular season, and then spread to Glen Davis late Wednesday. Now it's hit Rondo at the worst possible time.
"It's pretty bad," Doc Rivers said of Rondo's case of the flu. "Baby missed [Thursday] — he was sick. Whatever Tony has is kind of spreading around the team right now."
While the rest of the Celtics took the floor Friday at their practice facility in Waltham, Mass., to tune up for the playoff opener, Rondo was given a lighter practice schedule under the circumstances.
"We had him do film, then we did a walkthrough," Rivers said. "Then we told him to go home."
While Rondo's health for the playoffs is in doubt at the moment, his coach remains confident that the point guard will be able to take the floor for Game 1.
"He's going to play," Rivers said. "I just don't know how he's going to feel. I don't anticipate him feeling great, to be honest. I know he was throwing up and everything else, all night last night and all day today. We sent him to the hospital, just for IV work and stuff like that, but other than that, it is what it is."
At this point, the Celtics have given up on trying to prevent the untimely flu outbreak. All they can do is fight through it.
"All the hand-washing and all that stuff, none of that stuff has worked with our team so far," Rivers said. "They fly together, they live together for the most part. Not a lot you can do about it."
The C's take the floor 8 p.m. Saturday at the TD Garden for Game 1. Whether he's ready or not, you can expect Rondo to be thrown into the fire.
