Boston Celtics: Daniel Theis out for season and other injury updates
The injury-riddled season continues for the Boston Celtics, as they’ll be without Daniel Theis for the rest of the season.
The Boston Celtics just can’t shake the injury bug this season. They’ve arguably had more injuries over the course of this season than any other team. Injuries are hard to avoid in the world of sports and we wish we could get rid of them all together, but that’s life.
The first injury that comes to mind is the scary and significant blow to the newly acquired Gordon Hayward. That certainly put a damper on the season, as well as changed how the team would tackle the season moving forward.
There have also been a few small injuries here and there that are still worth noting. Marcus Smart was out for a few weeks, Marcus Morris has been here and there the whole season and Al Horford is another player who has been hit with injuries every so often.
Jaylen Brown has been primarily healthy, but will be out for a week or two after suffering a scary injury to the head against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kyrie Irving has seen injuries that have come sporadically throughout the season too. He had some shoulder pain and now a lagging knee injury.
Daniel Theis
News broke Monday afternoon that the Celtics have lost Daniel Theis for the season to a torn meniscus.
Sources: Celtics center Daniel Theis has suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee and will undergo season-ending surgery. Theis emerged as an important reserve for Boston this season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 12, 2018
This is a devastating blow to the Celtics because he was a solid option off the bench. As we all know, the bench has easily been one of the team’s biggest issues this season. He wasn’t ever going to come in and drop 20 a night, but he was going to give you some offensive stability and an occasional 3. Most importantly, he was a solid defender off the bench.
The rookie was averaging 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Depth was already a major concern for Boston and it will be tested even further now in the absence of the forward.
Jaylen Brown
I’m sure by now we’ve all seen the devastating fall that Brown took against the Wolves on March 8. Brown is in the mix of a great second year and quite possibly in the running for the Most Improved Player of the Year award.
Brad Stevens came out and claimed that it’s unlikely we see Brown until maybe next week.
#NEBHInjuryReport: Brad Stevens says of Jaylen Brown (concussion), “He’s making a lot of progress but I don’t anticipate him being on the court this week.”
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 11, 2018
This will be hard for the Celtics to replace him for that remaining stretch of time. They already had a lack of small forwards on the team – seeing as how Hayward is out for the season as well. It’s likely that we will be seeing extended minutes from the rookie Semi Ojeleye.
Brown is the second-leading scorer on the team and until these past few weeks, the Celtics have struggled to find their footing in the scoring department. The team obviously needs to make sure he’s 100 percent before bringing Brown back, but they’ll need him to return fast.
Kyrie Irving
The constant knee soreness is something you want to keep an eye on. Irving sat out recently because of his knee issues and it looks like it’s starting back up again. He sat out against the Chicago Bulls on March 5, but resumed playing on March 8.
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He left early in the game last night on March 11 due to the knee bugging him. The playoffs are right around the corner and the team cannot afford to lose their best offensive weapon. He leads the team in scoring with 24.4 points per game – over a 10-point differential to the other injured player, Brown.
Not to be a Debbie Downer, and I’m not saying they’re related injuries, but Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Jimmy Butler sat out with knee soreness earlier in the year and later tore his meniscus. It’s something to keep an eye on because knee injuries have proven to be fatal.
The offense is going to have to pick up with their two best offensive weapons out of the lineup, for what looks to be an extended period of time.
Al Horford
Thankfully, Horford was only out because of illness and that should be cleared soon, if not already. If he were to miss another game, it would be another drastic blow as that would be three players out of the starting lineup in the most important stretch of the year.
Outside of Theis, and obviously Gordon Hayward, no Celtics are expected to be out long term. But currently team is down:
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) March 12, 2018
Kyrie Irving
Jaylen Brown
Al Horford
Gordon Hayward
Daniel Theis
Shane Larkin is still on a minutes restriction. And Marcus Smart finished last night in pain.
Marcus Smart
Update: No more than an hour after this article was published, Yahoo! Sports‘ Shams Charania supplied yet another depressing injury update, this time in regards to Marcus Smart:
Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has suffered a torn tendon in his right thumb, league sources tell Yahoo. He will have second opinions on his thumb and be out indefinitely.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 12, 2018
There really isn’t anything the Celtics can do except to take on the “next man up” strategy. I wouldn’t be surprised if the team brings someone up from the G League or even signs someone to a 10-day contract to accommodate for the recent losses.
Next: 2018 NBA Draft - Early March Mock Draft
The team is going to need to stay healthy if they’re going to want to even push for the first seed or even make a sustainable run in the playoffs.