The Boston Celtics crushed the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night for their sixth win in their last seven games. Boston has the third best record in the Eastern Conference and they have surprised a lot of people with how well they have played this season.
The win was the Celtics' 14th straight at home but that may not have even been the most impressive part of the night for Boston. The fact that Jared Sullinger was even able to play is extremely impressive considering he was in the hospital just two days earlier.
Sullinger started feeling discomfort after the Celtics loss to the Cavaliers on Saturday and sought out treatment from the team's training staff. The discomfort later was added to by an illness at which point the forward decided to go seek treatment at a local hospital. Sullinger called the couple of days leading up to Wednesday "rough" but credited the team's medical staff for getting him ready to go for their next game.
When he was in the hospital Sullinger was told by doctors that it would be wise for him to consider sitting out Wednesday's game. Sullinger was discharged on Tuesday afternoon and although he was listed as questionable he decided to play. The 24-year-old forward said his intention, even when he first went to the hospital, was always to be able to play in Wednesday's game. Not only did Sullinger play, he also contributed big time as he put up 12 points on 5-11 shooting while adding five rebounds in 21 minutes of action.
There was a time during the game when Sullinger had to go back to the locker room to redress the affected area but he came back to the bench afterwards. Although Sullinger played and was actually productive he said afterwards that he felt slow and didn't think his reaction time was as quick as it usually is.
Head coach Brad Stevens praised him after the game, which is far from a surprise, saying he started off a little slow but once he shook off the rust he was basically back to normal. Sullinger is set to become a restricted free agent after this season and he is doing well to earn himself some money. Through 64 games he is averaging 10.3 points and 8.7 rebounds in just 24 minutes per game.
