Ainge says Bradley's strain 'closer to Grade 1'
Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge hinted that Avery Bradley suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain in Game 1 and dubbed him a “long shot” to play again in the first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks.
During his weekly call to Boston sports radio 98.5, Ainge said Bradley avoided the more serious Grade 3 strain and was “closer to Grade 1.” A Grade 2 strain would suggest a partial muscle tear and Ainge insisted he won’t let Bradley return until he’s at full health.
“Avery is so critical, such a critical piece of our future, I’m certainly not going to allow Avery to go out at less than 100 percent,” said Ainge. “I know Avery is fighting at the bit; he would try to play under any circumstance if he could run. I will prevent and intervene there to keep Avery from jeopardizing himself and making sure he doesn’t make a bad decision.”
Ainge did note that the injury is, “not as bad as it could have been, he’s much better, but I think it’s a long shot that Avery will be back in this series.”
Celtics coach Brad Stevens previously ruled Bradley out for Games 3 and 4 in Boston this weekend and reaffirmed Wednesday that Bradley is “very unlikely” for the remainder of the series.
Stevens said at Thursday’s practice that Bradley’s MRI revealed, “nothing that we didn’t think.”
Added Stevens: “I think big picture, long term, he’s going to be able to heal fully. It will all be good and everything else. It just takes time with hamstrings. And so, like I said [Wednesday], he’s definitely out this weekend and then I would say he’s very unlikely to play in this series again. The hamstring’s one of those things where you can walk down the hallway and look like a million bucks, but when you start playing 32 minutes and have to change speeds and change directions and those type of things, that’s a different story.”
Asked if, on the chance Boston rallied to win the series, if Bradley might be available in future rounds, Stevens hinted Bradley might be able to resume some basketball activities by the end of this series if Boston was able to extend it.
“[Next round] would be something that we haven’t discussed a whole lot just because they’ve talked about, toward the end of this series, he should be to the point where he’s able to do a little bit more from a practice standpoint and those type of things,” said Stevens. “So I would say that it’s still unlikely early in that situation, but possibly in the days that go on after that.”
Meanwhile, Stevens said backup big man Kelly Olynyk will not practice Thursday and is “questionable at best” for Game 3.
The Celtics struggled to score in Game 2, setting a franchise record for futility with seven first-quarter points, in an 89-72 loss that put Boston in a 2-0 series hole.
