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.
Jaylen Brown bruised his right thigh in the second quarter of the Celtics’ 66-59 win against Philadelphia last night. Though the forward was pulled from the game after taking a knee to his thigh, he talked his way back in without an improved result.
It didn’t take long for McCarty to pull him again, this time for good.
Brown, who has said he wants to play every minute this summer, will get a rest today now that the 3-0 Celtics have a first-round bye in the playoffs.
“I’ll be fine. I heal quickly,” he said, though when asked if he planned to keep playing once the schedule resumes tomorrow, Brown hesitated.
“I’m not sure. I’m going to see how it feels — it’s pretty locked up right now,” he said. “But I’ll see how it feels tomorrow, go from there. It started to tighten up and I tried to get it back loose, and tried to put myself back in, but they pulled me out.”
I wasn’t overly concerned with Brown’s injury last night because the replay clearly showed him take a knee square in the quad.
While it looked painful as hell, there was nothing to indicate it could be serious or even semi-serious (is that a medical term?).
I was most puzzled by Walter McCarty’s decision to let Brown back into the game. A hang nail should be enough to get your next franchise cornerstone pulled from the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge order Brown to sit out the remainder of Summer League.
Speaking of Stevens, he was in the building last night and offered some insights on Jayson Tatum and others:
“I’ve been really encouraged by his defensive play,” the coach added after the 88-83 win against the Markelle Fultz-less Philadelphia 76ers brought the C’s to 3-0 in the Vegas league, “and that’s something that, with his length and ultimately as he builds more strength, should be a positive.”
On Zizic:
“I thought part of Ante’s struggles in the first few games were because we were putting him in bad spots,” Stevens said. “I talked to the team a little bit when I got here about, if Ante’s got his guy sealed on the block, we have to throw him the ball. If Ante’s rolling to the rim, don’t throw it at his ankles; put it up in the air. And then you saw Demetrius (Jackson) threw a nice lob pass today and delivered it, and he dunked it.
“He’s getting more comfortable every day, (but) I think he looks gassed, personally,” Stevens said. “His long year (playing in Europe) ended June-whatever . . . and he traveled over here on the 26th and started practice. I think he’ll benefit more from the next month than anybody else on our team.”
Glad to hear because I’ve been unimpressed with Zizic’s play and athleticism prior to last night.
On Semi Ojeleye:
“I think what he’s doing translates,” Stevens said. “That’s the thing with Semi. I didn’t know coming in that he could be matched up on 5s for possessions because of his leverage and his strength, but I thought the biggest key to winning the Lakers game was him guarding (7-foot-1 center Ivica) Zubac and stretching Zubac out. So his flexibility defensively is going to be enormous.
“I mean, I think that he will compete to be one of our better defenders right out of the gate.”
Ojeleye and Yabusele might be fighting for minutes as an 11th man. At the very least, they should push Marcus Morris.
Related links: Globe – Brown hurt in SL win | Tatum, Celtics, set for SL tournament
On Page 2, Gordon Hayward’s father with insight into his son’s decision.
Hayward wanted to go somewhere where an NBA championship was possible, but he had no interest in a ready-made situation, such as the one Kevin Durant entered when he signed with the Warriors last summer.
Hayward Sr. said that if the Celtics had defeated the Cavaliers in the conference finals, his son would have been less interested. But it was clear watching them get pummeled by LeBron James that they needed help, and perhaps he could provide it.
…
The Celtics took Hayward to Fenway Park and played a video on the center-field scoreboard in which Boston athletes said what it is like to play in the city. Hayward enjoyed it, but he has never been a huge baseball fan, and the history of Fenway probably did not resonate with him, his father said.
…
Back at the team’s Waltham training facility, Stevens and Hayward analyzed clips of the Celtics and of Hayward. Stevens described how he would deploy him…
“Gordon said to me, ‘Dad, it was impressive. It was amazing,’ ” the father said.
It was always about Brad Stevens.
Photo courtesy John Karalis
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
