Report: Malcolm Brogdon playing with partially torn tendon in right elbow

Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon has reportedly been playing in the Eastern Conference Finals with a partially torn tendon in his right elbow, according to The Athletic.

The reigning Sixth Man of the Year, who appeared to sustain the injury in the C's 123-116 Game 1 loss at home -- finished with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting off the bench -- but since then, Brogdon is averaging 5.0 points on 5-of-20 from the field and 1-of-10 from deep.

"Malcolm Brogdon has been playing through a partial tear in the tendon coming out of his right elbow that leads into his forearm, team sources told The Athletic.

Brogdon suffered the injury in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, according to the sources, who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record. The Celtics guard was initially dealing with golfer's elbow soreness during the second-round series against Philadelphia, but an MRI after Game 1 against the Heat determined he exacerbated the injury by tearing the tendon in boxing out Miami Heat big Kevin Love midway through the first quarter."

The partially torn tendon has clearly been affecting Brogdon's shooting -- in 17 minutes of the Celtics 116-99 Game 4 win, the veteran scored two points on five attempts and 0-of-2 from 3-point range and in the team's embarrassing 128-102 Game 3 blowout loss -- he went scoreless on 0-of-6 from the floor.

Per the latest report, Brogdon will continue to play through the injury, despite there being a noticeable difference to his shooting hand and consider surgery in the offseason.

In the meantime, the Miami Heat -- who have a 3-1 best-of-7 series lead -- will be without Gabe Vincent for Game 5 after the guard suffered a left ankle sprain in the fourth quarter of Game 4, according to Shams Charania.

Vincent is averaging 17.5 points through the first four games and hitting 50% of his 3-point attempts.

The Celtics will look to extend their season once more tonight at TD Garden, as Game 5 is scheduled for a 8:30 ET tip-off on TNT.

Joel Pavón

Follow @Joe1_CSP



Photo used courtesy of USA Today