BOSTON — The Celtics welcomed Jared Sullinger back to the lineup for Friday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks at TD Garden.
The 23-year-old power forward had missed the previous 24 games with a broken bone in his left foot. He was expected to miss the rest of the season, but his rehab, during which he lost “20 pounds,” went quicker than anticipated.
“He worked hard,” Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said before tipoff. “I give him a lot of credit. He’s worked really hard since he’s been back on doing the things that he was able to do. He wasn’t able to run. He wasn’t able to do much weight-bearing activity other than biking and swimming. So, now in the last two weeks, he’s been a little bit more on his feet.
“Then these past three days, he’s been able to go up and down a bit on the court. He’s worked hard at it. He’s not where he wants to be, but I think he’s probably in a better position than he was even six to eight weeks ago. Again, general conditioning and basketball, running up and down the court, totally different things.”
Sullinger made his only appearance of Friday’s game in the third quarter when Milwaukee was opening up a large lead.
He played 3:12, went 0-for-2 from the field, grabbed one rebound and picked up two personal fouls. It wasn’t enough of a sample size to truly gauge where he’s at in regard to returning to basketball shape.
“Not fair to him to assess it,” Stevens said. “I don’t think that’s fair. I think its three minutes of getting the cobwebs out. It’s probably not enough.”
The Celtics begin a three-game road trip Saturday night against the Toronto Raptors.
Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
