Kevin Garnett out, Jermaine O Neal in for Boston Celtics - NBA Update
Boston Celtics are having an injury plagued season so far.
Before Monday, veteran Kevin Garnett was the only player in the team who had not missed a game because of an injury, however even he could not escape for long and by hurting his hip muscle, joined the bandwagon of the injured players
in the team.
Garnett has still not recovered and his inclusion in the Celtics outing against the Pistons on Wednesday night is highly doubtful. Coach Doc Rivers was naturally disappointed with this development, but since the injury is not
a threatening one, he was not that worried.
"Kevin has a 50/50 chance (of playing Wednesday)," Rivers said. "We'll find out (Wednesday). It's nothing bad with Kevin. But (Celtics trainer Ed Lacerte) really suggested two days off and then he said today, 'Maybe three days
off.' So we'll find that out (Wednesday)."
This is a significant setback for the Celtics, however fortunately for them, the disappointment is to an extent neutralized, as Jermaine O Neal has recovered from the shoulder injury after missing last two games and would be taking
part in the next game. Neal said his injury was highly painful.
"I just took a direct blow to the capsule part of the shoulder and really inflamed it to the point where I couldn't raise it," O'Neal said following Tuesday's session. "It's one of those things where you just come in and get treatment
and get back to the point where you can get some more movement in it."
Celtics have few important games coming up this week and although they would miss Garnett, they should be happy that other players like Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce are fully fit.
The 35 years old Garnett is in the twilight of his career and would probably be saying farewell to NBA is a year or two. The Celtics now need to give him the rest he needs to ensure his injury does not get serious as one more serious
injury can probably lead to Garnett’s premature retirement.
Garnett is having a pretty good season so far. He has produced a double-digit tally in almost all the games he has played and his average at the moment is 14 points and 7.7 rebounds.
Hopefully, he would recover soon.
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