Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
“He’s probably more week-to-week than day-to-day,” coach Brad Stevens said before the Celts took on the Knicks here last night.
The situation caught the club by surprise when it gathered for Tuesday’s practice.
“We had no idea,” said Stevens. “In fact, he didn’t say anything until Tuesday. So I don’t know if it was something that was wearing on him, but none of us knew.
“Hopefully (it’s) a good lesson for him and us. He needs to communicate that ASAP if he thinks something is not feeling right.”
The message was delivered by the C’s and, more importantly, got through.
“Yeah,” said Young after getting pregame treatment last night. “I’m still learning. I guess I should have talked to Ed (Lacerte, the trainer) right away as soon as it happened, but I’m still learning.”
As for how it went down, the 6-foot-6 wing said, “I was stretching before the game, and I felt a few pops in my leg. But it’s nothing serious.
“I just wanted to go out there and play. I didn’t really feel it until the second half. During halftime I put some heat on it and kept playing. I was just going off adrenaline, so I really didn’t feel it.
“The next day when I woke up, that’s when I really felt it and had to ice it. It was really stiff, sore. I couldn’t walk that much. It was hard to extend my leg.”
Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy… you have to be smarter than this.
Not only do you have to protect your body, you have to be aware of my feelings and expectations. I was just starting to get excited about your potential. Now I have to wait a week or two to watch you play basketball again.
This situation reminds me of something I often encounter with my 5-year-old. When he’s having fun, playing sports or games, he’ll hold his pee until the last possible second because he doesn’t want to miss out on the fun. And when he can’t hold it back for another millisecond, he sprints into the bathroom and unleashes a stream with pressure comparable to a fire hose.
Young was not going to miss his first game, no matter how bad he had to pee.
On Page 2, Marcus Thornton played following a root canal.
Thornton had been a game-time decision after undergoing a root canal on Wednesday morning.
Despite still feeling the effects of the dental surgery — and the numbing agent — Thornton elected to play and finished with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting with the team-high three steals.
“I talked to [team trainer] Ed [Lacerte], and Coach [Stevens] was like, The best thing to do is go get it done now so that I don’t have to miss any games during the regular season,” explained Thornton. “It was tough, but I went and got it done this morning.”
Thornton is unlikely to make the orthodontist a part of his gameday routine, but it did him well for one night. A reporter joked that Thornton wouldn’t skip flossing from now on and he replied, “I’m definitely going to do everything I need to do to not have this done again.”
Three steals for Marcus Thornton? Is that a typo? Maybe there was something besides novocaine in that needle.
Memo to Chris Forsberg, orthodontists handle the straightening of teeth, endodontists are the specialists handling root canals.
And finally, the most ridiculous Knicks t-shirt you’ll ever see.
The rest of the links:
Herald – Home sweet home win in Hartford | ESPN Boston – Faverani set for more tests | Rapid Reaction: Celtics 106 Knicks 86 | Defense contagious for Cs | WEEI – Sullinger, Smart stand out |
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