Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Head coach Brad Stevens indicated Kelly Olynyk (shoulder) is “right around the corner” and will be listed as “questionable” for Sunday night’s meeting with the Denver Nuggets. Al Horford (concussion) is expected to miss that game, but jogged on a treadmill during Saturday’s practice and was scheduled for some on-court work later in the day. Jae Crowder received treatment on his sprained left ankle Saturday and feels “a lot better,” according to Stevens.
“The swelling is down (for Crowder), progressing at a really good rate,” Stevens said after practice Saturday. “He won’t be ready in the next couple of days by any means, but I think ultimately as we get into the next week he’ll have a good chance of returning.”
MassLive: Boston Celtics injury updates
Well whaddya know… the Celtics could be getting a fully healthy squad on the floor some time soon.
Al Horford is in the concussion protocol so the team is bound by a certain set of standards. Concussions are difficult to deal with and they are different for everyone. Horford’s running yesterday is a sign that he’s no longer suffering the symptoms, but there are still tests he has to pass before being cleared by the league to play. Again, this is in the league’s hands now, and he will have to go through a few more checks with a gradually increased workload before he can play again. He’ll miss tonight but the Celtics don’t play again until Wednesday, so it’s very likely he’ll be cleared by then.
Kelly Olynyk could follow quickly, giving the Celtics a desperately needed boost off the bench. And then we’re just waiting on Jae Crowder’s sprained ankle to heal and we can see what this team is really about. It will be nice to get a full sense of what’s actually working and what’s not once everyone is healthy and ready to go. It might not all come together until the end of the month, but it will eventually happen.
We hope.
Related links: CSNNE: Olynyk could make debut vs Nuggets | Horford “getting better,” won’t play Sunday
Page 2: The defense is just… well… terrible
Prior to yesterday’s games, the Celts were third worst in the NBA in opponent scoring, surrendering 109.6 points per game. The fact that they’re sixth best in opponents’ field goal percentage (43.1) shows they’ve been bad at finishing the possessions with the rebound, and, indeed, they are 26th in giving up offensive rebounds, which has led to foes scoring 13.6 second-chance points per game.
“I’m not as worried about the numbers as I am just watching it,” said coach Brad Stevens, whose club hosts Denver tonight. “I think, obviously, there’s a lot to improve on in a lot of areas. I’m trying to make sure that we’re as focused technically as we can be on what we can improve, with the understanding that we haven’t all been out there and we’re not all going to be out there together.”
Herald: Poor early numbers difficult to defend
“Any time we give up 128 points, we’re going to lose,” Stevens said. “My eyes, if we give up 110, we’re probably going to lose. So I think we need to get a lot better defensively and that includes finishing plays. The defense has to get a lot better.
“Now, we had some disadvantages as far as size issues, but we have to play better position then. Our position wasn’t great. Our transition ironically has been the best thing we’ve done defensively overall, which is proof that the numbers don’t always tell the truth because I don’t think we’re very good yet. We have a lot of room to improve.”
Globe: Brad Stevens says Celtics defenders not in the right position
Brad Stevens won’t make excuses but I will… at least to continue to the injury conversation and say that not having a full squad matters a lot in this case. It’s just too much to ask Jordan Mickey to switch onto LeBron James and not expect to give up a basket.
But the coach doesn’t give a damn about that because if guys are out of position, there’s no chance to even catch a break in a situation like that… so he does have a point there. It’s one thing to not have the horses to get the job done, but it’s another to be out of position and make a bad situation worse.
BUT… it’s hard for bad defenders to be in good positions. The Celtics are trotting out some bad defenders (like Gerald Green) or defenders who can be good but really only when they’re surrounded by other good defenders (like Jonas Jerebko). Once we can see a Crowder, Horford, Smart, Bradley combo on the floor for extended minutes, then we’ll get to see those defensive numbers improve.
And Finally…
Isaiah Thomas snuck into a locked South Station just to see his face everywhere…
//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js
This is a pretty cool campaign… and this is totally something I would do if I were in his shoes (which look like a pretty fresh pair of Jordan 1’s… but I digress). I’m glad Nike is giving him this push.
The rest of the links:
MassLive: Thomas: Celtics need to regain grit and grind
Herald: RJ Hunter may be late-blooming shooting star that comes back to haunt the Celtics
Globe: Can Al Horford be the next great Celtic?
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