Celtics give promising injury updates on Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis
Joe Mazulla made it sound like there was a chance the Boston Celtics could be back at full strength when the Portland Trail Blazers come to town Wednesday night. He gave promising updates on both Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, who took part in Tuesday's practice.
However, just a few hours later, both were listed as "doubtful" on a jam-packed Celtics injury report. So it does not sound like either will play against Portland.
Holiday has missed the last two games with an injury to his pinky on his shooting hand. The veteran guard is dealing with "mallet finger," which is an injury to tendon in the tip of the finger.
Jrue Holiday's finger injury
While Holiday won't require surgery for the injury, his right pinky has been in a cast for the last several days. Mazzulla said the guard went through his full shooting routine and workout on Tuesday, and the team will ultimately determine his availability against the Blazers after Wednesday's morning shootaround.
"He's always a guy who wants to be out there. At the same time we have to do what is best for him and what's best for the team," Mazzulla said of Holiday. "This is the second time in his career he's gone on a long playoff run into an Olympics. We're fully aware of that and I feel he's done a great job of, when he's available, giving it everything he has."
Holiday will take things slow with the injury, which isn't making simple basketball actions easy for the 34-year-old.
"I mean, I'm shooting, dribbling, catching, it's probably all pretty weird or, I mean, honestly, inconvenient," Holiday told reporters Sunday.
Holiday suffered the injury last Wednesday during a Celtics loss to the Pistons in Detroit. He's played in 47 games for the defending champions this season, averaging 10.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game.
Porzingis has also missed Boston's last two games as he's dealt with an illness, but went through the team's walkthrough and film session at the Auerbach Center in Brighton on Tuesday. In 32 games this season, the big man has averaged 18.9 points off 47 percent shooting to go with 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.
