Avery Bradley made his triumphant return to Celtics practice today, according to Jay King of Mass Live.
Avery Bradley did some live work at today's practice. Stevens said he's not sure about availability for tomorrow yet.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) January 31, 2017
Later, A. Sherrod Blakely added to the intrigue.
.@celtics Avery Bradley practiced, said he feels good. Said he'll be in later for another workout. Will be game-time decision vs @Raptors.
— A. Sherrod Blakely (@ASherrodblakely) January 31, 2017
Obviously if he’s feeling good enough to go in for a second workout then Celtics fans have a right to get excited about tomorrow night’s possibilities. And truthfully, if Bradley were to return, it couldn’t come at a more crucial moment. The team is preparing to square off against the Raptors, and Toronto is currently just a game behind the C’s for 2nd place in the East.
My advice to those Celtics fans would be this: tamper those expectations. Don’t get too excited. We’ve been through this before, remember? Avery Bradley had initially only missed 4 games at the beginning of the year before returning to the lineup. AB’s achilles felt so good the man even practiced the following day! Unfortunately for him and the team, the issue eventually flared up on the team’s next gameday (which happened to be another Wednesday night match-up, this time against the Knicks, in which the Celtics subsequently lost).
Now I don’t point this out in an effort to point the finger at Avery Bradley and compare him to the boy who cried wolf. I’m more pointing to his achilles and reminding everyone how fickle of an injury this can be. The Celtics have gone just 7-4 since this injury occurred, but Steven’s won’t want to take a chance with AB – and who can blame him? Bradley is one of their best 3 point shooters, rebounders, and defenders all rolled into one versatile guard.
On top of all of this, the Celtics have hit their stride lately. They’ve won 4 in a row and now sit just 2.5 games behind 1st place after the Cavs hit their rough patch at the exact right time for Boston.
Avery Bradley opted to go without surgery to save his season, which is great and we applauded him for that. Now we, as fans, must allow him the time to properly heal this injury so that he can come back and make a real difference for this team. If that’s not tomorrow night then so be it, but either way, it’s good news to see him back on the practice court.
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