Boston Celtics: Impact Of Avery Bradley's Injury

With Avery Bradley ruled doubtful for the remainder of the series, how will the Boston Celtics cope with the loss of one of their key outside shooters?

It wasn’t any longer than about five minutes of game time for the Boston Celtics to tangibly miss the presence of their suddenly dynamic two-way player, Avery Bradley.

Bradley, the sixth-year shooting guard out of the University of Texas who has enjoyed a career-year and was primed to be one of the major parts of the Celtics’ playoff run, fell to the floor writhing in pain after hearing a “pop” in his hamstring with about six minutes to go in the Celtics’ Game 1 match-up against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday evening.

On Sunday, Celtics coach Brad Stevens ruled his starting shooting guard as doubtful for the remainder of the opening-round series.

Whether a fan of Boston basketball or not, one has to feel for Bradley, who has overcome three shoulder surgeries, some minor ankle issues and now an untimely hamstring strain over his first six years in the NBA.

The timing of the injury could not have been worse, as Bradley’s defense on Jeff Teague in the second half, coupled with the resurgence of the Celtics offense following a 23 percent shooting first half, drove the comeback that saw the C’s take the lead after trailing by as many as 19 earlier in the contest.

With Bradley on the sidelines, both teams played the final five minutes and change going back-and-forth, trading baskets. With the Celtics trailing by three with less than 40 seconds to go, a sequence ensued that ultimately led to a wide-open, uncontested look by veteran Evan Turner.

Turner has enjoyed a renaissance in his career over the last two seasons in Boston, but as a 24 percent three-point shooter, he was likely one of the last players that Brad Stevens would have liked to shoot the ball in that high-pressure situation. He missed the open look, the Celtics fouled intentionally after the Hawks corralled the rebound, and the rest was history on Saturday night.

Sitting at home as a Celtics fan, one couldn’t help but wonder what may have been in Game 1 should Bradley have stayed in the game. In a tight contest late, Bradley’s defense was missed and his three-point shooting down the stretch could have easily swung the opening game of the series in the Celtics’ favor.

The impact of the injury has already been felt, as the C’s failed to close out the Hawks and steal homecourt advantage away from their Eastern Conference foe after fighting so hard to get themselves back into the game. However, what is the impact of the injury moving forward for the rest of the series and potentially beyond?

The main impact is the fact that the Celtics are now short their best perimeter backcourt shooter. Isaiah Thomas has been fantastic from deep for the Celtics, but Bradley has shot the ball slightly better from three (36.1 percent vs. 35.9 percent). Having both shooters in critical offensive situations is now gone, sending the C’s into some potentially uncharted waters from beyond the arc.

Boston has not been a particularly good jump-shooting team this season, but some of their best stretches have been with Thomas and Bradley in the game at the same time. Thriving off of opposing teams’ turnovers and getting out in transition has been the Celtics M.O. and they are at their best when they tie their fastbreak game to efficient shooting in the halfcourt.

The shooting will undoubtedly suffer and this will be a key aspect to watch for the remainder of the series.

Defensively, the Celtics should be just fine. Expect the temporary stop-gap measure to be the insertion of second-year guard Marcus Smart into the fold, as he has been an absolute bulldog on the perimeter, becoming every bit the defensive stopper that Stevens and general manager Danny Ainge expected when the team chose Smart with the sixth pick in the 2014 draft.

While he has shown glimpses of an improved shooting stroke, including a couple of crucial threes to pull the Celtics within striking distance on Saturday night, the numbers overall haven’t been too pretty offensively for Smart. He has shot only 34.3 percent from the field overall this season and only 25 percent from the perimeter.

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The best Stevens can hope for with Smart in the lineup is that the Celtics’ defense levels off and that the team will be able to do just as well forcing turnovers with Smart as they would with Bradley.

If Stevens looks to insert more offense into the fold, Turner is another guy who should be expected to contribute more heavily at the 2-guard than he has over the past couple of months.

As alluded to above, Turner does not shoot the ball well from deep either, but he has shown an uncanny ability to get to his spots for mid-range jumpers, a la Paul Pierce, while also producing while getting into the paint and to the free-throw line.

He has shot 45.6 percent from the field overall this season, including shooting 48.2 percent on his two-point field goals and a modest 82.7 percent from the free throw line.

No matter what Stevens has up his sleeve, the Celtics will have their work cut out for them heading into the remainder of the series, as well as the rest of the playoffs, should they advance and be without Bradley.

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Defense will be the key cog in the machine from start to finish for Boston, but with offensive questions abounding with Bradley absent, only time will tell how big of an impact the injury will ultimately have on Boston’s chances of long-term success for the rest of the playoffs.

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Impact Of Avery Bradley’s Injury

By Mike McDaniel | Apr 18, 2016

With Avery Bradley ruled doubtful for the remainder of the series, how will the Boston Celtics cope with the loss of one of their key outside shooters?

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