The Boston Celtics dealt with their fair share of bumps and bruises this season, but they managed to stay relatively healthy en route to a 48-win campaign.
But it appears those “bumps and bruises” finally have caught up to them.
The Celtics have dealt with a rash of injuries through two playoff games in their best-of-seven series against the Atlanta Hawks. Starting shooting guard Avery Bradley likely is out for the series after straining his hamstring in Game 1, an aggravated shoulder injury kept Kelly Olynyk out of Game 2 and Marcus Smart is dealing with hip and finger injuries.
And then there’s Jae Crowder, who hasn’t missed a minute against Atlanta but is struggling to cope with a nagging injury of his own.
Crowder suffered a high ankle sprain back on March 11 that kept him out of eight consecutive games. He returned for the Celtics’ stretch run but failed to regain his offensive rhythm, shooting 36 percent from the field over six regular season games in April after hovering just below 50 percent for much of the season.
The 25-year-old’s shot has taken a turn for the worse in the postseason. Crowder tallied just two points on 1 for 9 shooting in Tuesday’s abysmal loss and is 2 for 11 from 3-point range through two games against Atlanta.
“I don’t know,” Crowder said Tuesday when asked to provide a reason for his shooting struggles, via a postgame interview on CSN New England. “I’m going to look at film and see what I’m doing, but I don’t feel right. I’ll go back to ground zero and check it out.”
Crowder, the team leader in steals and one of Boston’s most tenacious defenders, also appears to have lost a step on the defensive end. A high ankle sprain is a tough injury to shake, but with his team in a 2-0 series hole, Crowder isn’t interested in placing blame.
“That’s not an excuse, though,” Crowder said. “I’m suiting up every night. I’m able to play. So, I’ve got to do my job, and (Tuesday night), I didn’t.”
The Celtics are dealing with enough injuries as it is, so they’ll need Crowder to find a way to produce through the pain if they want to turn things around Friday in Game 3.
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Let’s hit a few other notes from Celtics-Hawks:
— Smart took a flying knee from Hawks guard Kent Bazemore early in the first quarter and left briefly before returning. The Celtics announced he had a right hip contusion, but that diagnosis changed after the game:
— The playoff drought continues for Brad Stevens, who now is 0-6 in playoff games as the Celtics’ head coach. The C’s haven’t won a postseason game since they beat the New York Knicks in Game 5 of their 2013 first-round matchup, and their seven-game postseason losing streak is the second-longest in franchise history.
— The Celtics couldn’t shoot to save their lives, but many of their shots didn’t even make it to the rim. The Hawks blocked 15 of Boston’s shots, with the frontcourt duo of Al Horford (five blocks) and Paul Millsap (four) accounting for nine of those swats. One “fan” in attendance liked what he saw:
— Atlanta also got a big performance out of sharpshooter Kyle Korver, who bounced back from a brutal Game 1 to drill 5 of 7 3-pointers for 17 points.
“Korver is one of the main things we talk about every time we walk in this building, every time we walk into the hotel, every time we land in Atlanta,” Stevens said in a postgame interview on CSN New England. “We know that we have to be in his airspace, or else we’re toast.”
— Olynyk wasn’t too pleased about missing Tuesday’s game, telling reporters it “really sucks” not to be on the floor. But he’s holding out hope for Game 3.
“We haven’t talked about (surgery), any of that at all. We’re just trying to (go) day-by-day,” Olynyk said, via MassLive.com’s Jay King. “I felt a little bit better (Tuesday) morning, went through shootaround and then didn’t feel quite as good there. Hopefully a couple more days rest and see how it is Friday.”
Thumbnail photo via Jason Getz/USA TODAY Sports Images
