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.
One week after Boston Celtics big man Al Horford suffered a concussion during an off-day practice, coach Brad Stevens said the 10th-year veteran has not progressed in the NBA’s concussion protocol and he is uncertain when Horford will return to basketball activities.
Horford, who signed a four-year, $113 million contract with the Celtics over the summer, has missed Boston’s past three games. The concussion was diagnosed Tuesday, after he experienced nausea while attempting to practice a day after absorbing an inadvertent blow to the head from a teammate.
“[Horford] has not advanced in the protocol, based on what I’ve been told,” Stevens said after Monday’s practice. “I have not gotten anything deeper than that, but he did not do anything with our team today.”
On Saturday, Horford could be seen running on a treadmill above the Celtics’ practice court with team trainer Ed Lacerte monitoring the session. Horford then engaged in some light on-court work but quickly departed.
Stevens had said that if that session went well, the team would increase Horford’s activity. Instead, his status for Wednesday’s game against the Washington Wizards is uncertain, with the Celtics set to fly to the nation’s capital Tuesday afternoon.
Crap.
Maybe we can take solace in the fact that Al is capable of running on a treadmill and on the court. It appears he’s progressing through the return-to-participation checklist, but that doesn’t really matter if the symptoms – even light to mild ones – don’t go away.
The Celtics have 3 games this week: Washington, Knicks and Indiana. Considering what we saw against Denver, I’d say none of those games are sure wins w/o Horford on the court.
I demand accountability for Al’s concussion. Do we know who leveled the death blow? I’m putting 2-1 odds on Tyler Zeller and Gerald Green, and even money on Olynyk.
On Page 2, Brad Stevens made the team watch a grotesque horror film yesterday.
“It was horrible. Everybody was disgusted with it,” the Celtics coach said after practice. “Everybody was disgusted with themselves and the way the team played. We know that’s not how we play and that something has to change and that starts with each other and started today in practice.”
And just to make sure his critiques sunk in thoroughly enough, Stevens extended the length of the pre-practice video session.
“We watched all negative clips, the things we didn’t do,” said guard Marcus Smart. “We just kept it honest with each other. With the team, that’s what you need. You need everybody to be honest. You can’t have anybody worrying about themselves because everybody did something wrong. It wasn’t just one person out there. It was everybody. It was a good thing to do today, watch film, watch what we did wrong and try to fix those mistakes.”
This team better snap out of its defensive doldrums fast. They are not good enough to give away games at any point in the season.
I like what I’m hearing from Brad Stevens. Crack the whip. Remind these guys that it takes more than media hype to win games.
Related – Globe: Stevens’ job to energize the defense
On Page 3, Jaylen Brown and some obscure rapper caused quite a commotion in Cambridge.
A large crowd of young people that had gathered to meet a Boston Celtics player and a rap artist became unruly and was evacuated from the CambridgeSide Galleria mall Monday night.
As some threw bricks and glass, police used pepper spray to control the crowd.
More than 1,000 people were forced to leave the mall after the disturbance, which broke out around 5:50 p.m., according to Cambridge and State police.
The crowd had converged on Champs Sports on the third floor of the mall to meet Celtics rookie Jaylen Brown and the rapper Desiigner.
Someone tell this guy Desiigner there’s a typo in his name.
And finally, KG has a message on Election Day.
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The rest of the links
ESPN – Curry makes record 13 3-pointers in victory
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