WALTHAM, Mass. – Boston Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown remains doubtful for Thursday’s Game 2 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Philadelphia 76ers due to a right hamstring strain.
Brown went through a workout Wednesday morning but Celtics coach Brad Stevens suggested the team would continue to err on the side of caution considering the injury. Stevens did stress that the strain is not a long-term concern and left open the possibility that Brown could be back as early as Thursday’s game.
“[Brown] just finished a workout with [assistant coach] Micah [Shrewsberry] and our strength trainers and I have not gotten a report on how it went. It looked pretty good,” said Stevens. “But I doubt that he will do much in practice. He’ll be reassessed [Thursday]. But I know that he’s doubtful for [Thursday] night.”
Brown conferenced with Boston’s doctors and training staff just hours before Game 1 before the team decided to hold him out. Stevens said Brown understands why the team is operating with caution.
“He wants to play but he’s smart about it. He trusts our trainers,” said Stevens.
“The bottom line is, with this hamstring injury, it’s not terrible. It’s not a long-term thing, it shouldn’t linger if he comes back at the right time. But you could make it worse if you don’t come back at the right time, if you have to guard J.J. Redick and Marco Belinelli. And he’s going to have to do that so this is a great test to know when you’re going to be back or not. Because it’s not just about running, it’s about running at full speed all the way around the court. So that’s a real test.”
The Celtics won Monday’s Game 1 with Marcus Smart starting in place of Brown. Boston operated with only 11 available bodies as Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving, and Daniel Theis are also out.
Stevens said he lets the medical staff dictate when guys are ready to play again.
“I stay out of most of those conversations to be honest,” said Stevens. “Obviously all players want to play and get back out on the court and then our medical team needs to make that decision to give them the OK or not. And then I wait for the text message that says he’s available to play, or the email that say he’s available to play.
“Now, we have discussions with Jaylen about, ‘Hey, the reason why you’ve got to go through all these tests and you’ve got to do all this is to run around screens with J.J. Redick,’ which is, to be honest, is a different challenge from most everything else in the league. So that is a part of it. But as far as like play or not play, I’m not even in those discussions.”
Source : ESPN
