How Much Will The Boston Celtics Miss Jae Crowder?

Jae Crowder is going to miss at least two weeks after suffering a high ankle sprain against the Houston Rockets on Friday. This is not good news at all for the Boston Celtics.

Coach Brad Stevens told reporters on Sunday that Jae Crowder will miss “at least two weeks” after suffering a high ankle sprain. Crowder has shown this season that he might be the most valuable player on the Boston Celtics because of how good he is on both ends of the floor.

He can guard four different positions on defense, and he has really improved his offensive game this year by averaging 14.4 points per game and shooting 45 percent from the field.

The Celtics are holding onto third place in the Eastern Conference right now with a record of 39-27, but teams like the Charlotte Hornets and the Miami Heat are not far behind. The Heat are one game back and Hornets are 1.5 games behind.

The Celtics will also be facing a tough stretch without Crowder; they will play the Toronto Raptors twice, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Indiana Pacers, and the Golden State Warriors over their next 10 games, and Crowder could miss all of these games.

Those games would have been tough with Crowder in the lineup, and now they will be even harder without their best two-way player.

Replacing Crowder?

It is going to be very hard to replace Crowder for these next couple of weeks, but the Celtics need someone to step up and help out during his absence. The Celtics might start three guards now that Crowder is out with Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, and Marcus Smart, but they will probably just start Evan Turner instead of Smart.

Turner has been really good for the Celtics this season, coming off the bench and averaging 10.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. He adds a little more size on the wing and in the backcourt for the Celtics at 6-foot-7, which is why he should start in place for Crowder.

The Celtics have not played a game this season without Crowder in the starting lineup, so it might take a little time for the team to adjust without Crowder in uniform.

Overall

In the interest of being precise, here is Stevens' exact line on Jae Crowder's prognosis: "He's going to be out a couple of weeks minimum."
— Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) March 13, 2016

Boston is going to miss Jae Crowder a lot, and he might be the most valuable player on the team because of his ability to play extremely well on both ends of the floor. No player on the Celtics can fully replace Crowder while he is out, but other players are going to have to step up big like Turner, Smart, and maybe even Terry Rozier, R.J. Hunter, or newly signed Coty Clarke.

Another big reason the Celtics will miss Crowder is because he gives the team the ability to play small. Down the stretch, the Celtics like to play small with Crowder at the four because he can guard multiple positions, and now they will need to find other options if they want to play small. Boston will probably not play small that much due to Crowder being out.

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Boston’s first game of the season without Crowder will be on Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers, it will be interesting to see how the team plays without their heart and soul.

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