The Celtics are set to face the Atlanta Hawks in their first-round playoffs series beginning on Saturday.
Jaylen Brown participated in practice Friday at the Auerbach Center with tape on his right hand, which according to him was due to the removal of five stitches.
The All-Star wing sustained the "unfortunate" injury when he dropped a vase while watering his plants and cut himself when attempting to clean up the broken glass -- that led to missing the last two games of the regular season.
"It's feeling a lot better now, that's for sure," Brown said during his post-shootaround presser. "Just working, getting some reps in, and getting ready for tomorrow."
Brown also noted that the protection he wore during practice is comfortable and anticipates that he'll be "fine" for Game 1.
"It definitely gives it a little different feel to it, but we'll see," Brown said of the injury affecting his shooting at all.
Since returning to practice on Thursday without any limitations, Brown says that he hasn't had to change his dribbling, passing or shot in any kind of way.
Brown did recall playing with an injury to the same hand that altered the way he shot the ball back in 2019.
"I think I sprained the palm or whatever and I had like a bruise," Brown said. "It affected my shooting a little bit. But, this is a little bit different and it's a little different time of the year so I think you have to try to be mentally as tough as possible and come out and help your team win."
The former No. 3 pick from the 2016 NBA Draft is coming off a career season averaging 26.6 points (league top ten in scoring) on 49.1% from the field -- making him a heavy favorite to be selected for an All-NBA team.
Brown, a Marietta, Georgia native, also pointed out that his grandma predicted a month ago that the Celtics would face the Hawks in the opening round.
"I was like, 'how do you know?'" Brown said. "She was like, 'trust me.' So, I guess you can thank my grandma for that."
While Boston avoided a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat, the Hawks are also not a typical seventh seed, as they are rank third in point per game this year.
"They're a tough team. I think they've got a lot of athleticism that could bother us," Brown said. "We've got to come out and handle our business and be detailed. They've got a lot of energy. They're hungry. They're young. I've been in that position, being the underdog, being the young team, looking to make a name for yourself. So we've got to be ready to go."
Celtics will host the Hawks tomorrow afternoon at TD Garden and tip-off is 3:30 ET on ESPN.
Joel Pavón
No comments:
Post a Comment