NEW YORK -- The Celtics had to rely on the likes of Abdel Nader and Guerschon Yabusele for rotation minutes on Thursday night against the Knicks, but it doesn't appear that Brad Stevens will have to dig that deep into his bench for much longer. Here's the latest on the status of three Celtics who were sidelined Thursday night but aren't too far away from returning to the floor.
Marcus Morris
The veteran forward missed his eighth straight game with a sore knee that has given him problems throughout the regular season. He received a PRP injection on Saturday and has been ramping up recovery work since then.
On his knee injury after receiving a PRP injection: "Yeah, I'm a little bit more comfortable, but, you know, things can change. Where I'm at right now, I'm feeling really good. We're pushing it a little more each and every day. We're just getting feedback on how it responds, and for the time being it's been responding really well. It's unfortunate that I even had to sit out, because once I did start playing, we thought everything was really good and the work we put in was really good. It's just a matter of time before I feel like everything's behind me."
Goal for playing: "Hopefully Christmas. I have to get some type experience to test it out to see where it's at, to see the response of it. But I'm feeling really confident on it, so hopefully Christmas. That's a big game for me."
Jaylen Brown
The shooting guard was a surprise scratch on Thursday night with a sore Achilles that has given him problems throughout the year.
“It’s never been as severe as it was this past week or two," Brown explained. "It’s just been caused by tightness in the glute, the calf. Your Achilles is taking all the banging for it just because of overload, a lot of games being played. But it kind of flared up in the Indiana (game) and then that’s when I was like, OK, this is the worst it’s ever been. But I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. Just wanted to be cautious. I’m not an expert on Achilles, but I know it’s nothing to play with. So I’m just trying to make sure I get all the ins and outs and hear everything the medical staff has to say, because they have the expertise and go from there.”
With a heavy schedule over the past two weeks, Brown didn't want to push things with some rest awaiting him. He appears to be day-to-day heading into Saturday's game against the Bulls.
“I’ve played through injuries before," he said. "So if it was up to me, yeah, I would play through it. But I’m not going to be stupid. I’m going to ask questions, look at the outcome and make the best decision possible. I just got off the court, tried to get it going, and it definitely is a difference. Nothing I haven’t played through before. But it’s a back-to-back and we’ve been playing a lot this month. I just don’t want to risk an injury going into January where we have a lot less games and we’ve played a lot more of these games.”
Shane Larkin
The point guard was ruled out before the Knicks game with a left knee injury that has flared up on him in the past week. He will get an MRI on Friday in Boston, but expects to be available for Saturday's game against the Bulls if it comes back negative.
"It's been acting up for a week or so," he said. "I've just been playing through it. I kind of really felt it more so than that Miami game. I didn't have that same pop, same spring in my step. I've just been playing through it. I'm just going to check it out. I took the day off and I'll see what's going on tomorrow and just go from there."