What’s next for the Celtics?
Boston has been hit hard lately by COVID-19 and added yet another player to the NBA’s health and safety protocols Saturday. Before its Christmas Day matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks, the C’s revealed Dennis Schröder came down with the virus.
Even with an outbreak that has seen 13 players added to the league’s protocols, the Celtics haven’t had any games postponed yet and have had to make due. One way they have done so is adding veterans C.J. Miles, Joe Johnson and Al-Farouq Aminu on 10-day contracts to help fill the team’s void on the bench.
Things are starting to look up as three players were activated from the COVID-19 list Saturday and Al Horford also is extremely close, but it seems at this point each day there’s another new case. It’s taking a toll on Ime Udoka and his players.
“We’ve been dealing with it for the last week or so now and it’s really gotten to that point where you’re holding your breath day by day for what the tests will look like. We’ve had quite a bit of this throughout the year with injuries and COVID before this latest outbreak,” Udoka said via team-provided audio. “So it’s kind of go with who you have and guys step up. Guys were out with injuries and other guys stepped up and now obviously Dennis is a last-minute one today but I still feel we have enough to win.”
It’s definitely a tough situation for any team or coach to deal with, but Boston seems to be doing OK with it winning two of its last three games prior to its matchup with the Bucks.
