The Boston Celtics had a great surge in Atlanta Saturday in the opener of their series against the Atlanta Hawks to get back into the game, but they still came up short and are now down 1-0 in the series. This matchup between the Celtics and Hawks figures to be the best first round series in the NBA playoffs and will likely go a long way.
For however long this series goes, you can expect Avery Bradley to not participate. Bradley was seen in significant pain when he went down in the fourth quarter of game one, leaving with a hamstring injury that seems like it's bad enough to keep him out for the rest of the series.
During the game, Bradley had 18 points and three rebounds before injuring himself with seven minutes left in the last quarter. Bradley said he "heard a pop" in his hamstring when he went down, which is never a good sign. Fortunately for Bradley, an MRI did not reveal any sort of tear in the hamstring, but he is dealing with a "pretty significant" strain.
The 25-year-old shooting guard has already been ruled out for game two tonight and the expectation is that he will miss at least the rest of this series. Hamstring injuries are the types that require rest and, if you come back too early, you risk re-injuring it and making it worse. Considering the severity of the injury, based on what the Celtics have said, it would seem like Bradley may be a long shot to return at any point in the playoffs, should they advance.
This is rough news for the Celtics as Bradley is one of the most important players on the team. Not only is he a lockdown perimeter defender, but the former Texas Longhorn had a career year on offense too. Bradley averaged a career-high 15.2 points per game while shooting 45 percent from the field and 36 percent from three and the Celtics will now need others to pick up the slack.
Head coach Brad Stevens has been indecisive about what he will do with his rotations now that Bradley is likely done, but Marcus Smart and Evan Turner should get a lot more playing time and play a bigger role. R.J. Hunter is an interesting guy to watch here because he is a guy that can help replace the shooting the Celtics will miss with Bradley out, but he has been out of the rotation for the most part so Stevens may stay away from the rookie.
