Celtics Suffer Multiple Injury Blow Ahead Of Playoffs, Stevens Provides Update

The Boston Celtics suffered a double blow during what was an inconsequential game against Orlando Magic, which they eventually lost 108-116 at TD Garden on Sunday night. Brad Stevens’ team had already clinched the fourth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and were guaranteed home court advantage against the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs.

The Celtics coach is unlikely to put any of the regular starters in the lineup for the final two games of the regular season and revealed that he was keen to get them game time against Magic. Stevens started the game with Al Horford, Kyrie Irving, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum and Aron Baynes, but lost one player almost immediately.

“The point of tonight was to try to -- because we probably won’t play 'till Saturday, maybe Sunday, was to get a true, kind-of, game for some of our starters and our top seven or eight guys,” Stevens explained after the game, as quoted on MassLive.

Tatum, who is the second top scorer for the Celtics this season with 15.9, went off with a shin contusion just six minutes into the game. It was a cause for major concern with the playoffs less than a week away after the team confirmed that he would not return for the rest of the game.

The next player to go down was Smart, but it came in the third quarter with 6.15 remaining on the clock. The shooting guard suffered an oblique bruise and was sidelined for the rest of the game, which despite a spirited comeback effort in the third quarter the Celtics lost.

Stevens, however, was not too concerned as he revealed that Tatum was carrying the injury in the days leading up to the game, but has not informed the head coach about his condition. And since the forward completed all the shooting drills leading up to the game, there is not too much concern at the moment about him missing the first round of the playoffs.

“Tatum had a shin contusion that evidently he had before the game, and I didn’t know about it," Stevens explained. "He just said it felt a little off when he jumped, so, you know, hopefully it’s nothing major but we’ll get it checked out tonight and tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”

“It was never told to me as it was something that would keep him from playing,” the Celtics head coach told reporters. “He did the whole shoot-around this morning, he got warmed up, he did his whole workout, and he felt great. I don’t know, for whatever reason when he -- when he jumped in the first quarter he felt it. I don’t know what it was.”

Similarly, Smart’s injury is also not thought to be too serious after the coach revealed that the shooting guard was walking around in the locker room after the game. Smart is also a vital member of Stevens’ team and the player is said to have told the trainer that the injury was not serious.

“Marcus Smart has an oblique bruise, which means he got hit right there," Stevens said. "I guess that’s better than a -- I don’t know whether it would be called, a strain or whatever, but we’ll see what that looks like tomorrow. He was a little sore but was walking around, which was good, in the locker room.”