The Boston Celtics may have been dealt another blow to their depth Friday against the Detroit Pistons.
Celtics wing Semi Ojeleye, who scored a career-high 24 points during Thursday’s win over the Toronto Raptors, exited Friday’s game with what the team announced was a sore right knee. It was revealed he would not return with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics went on to lose to the Pistons, 108-102. Boston was already without guards Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker, who was held out of Friday’s contest as it was the second night of a back-to-back.
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens offered somewhat of an update on Ojeleye after the loss, which dropped Boston to 13-12 on the season.
“No. I don’t have any update. I heard he was walking, or moving around but he wasn’t able to go back in that game. So, that was a loss the way that he’s playing, obviously, right now,” Stevens told reporters postgame.
“So, we’re hopeful that that’s not anything major — that it becomes a day-to-day type thing,” Stevens continued. “We obviously, you know, losing wings is tough, right? Because you lose a lot of versatility and a lot of ability to guard one through four. And Semi really has got better at that, and obviously has had a couple good scoring games here. So, I’m hopeful that’s nothing so he can continue to ride this wave.”
Ojeleye finished with nine points in 23 minutes while hitting three of his five shots from the field. He contributed five rebounds, three assists and two blocks, as well.
