One of the more important subplots heading into the East semifinals series between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks has been the status of star Celtics forward Jaylen Brown’s hamstring, which has been showing signs of tightness since Boston’s Game 4 win over the Brooklyn Nets.
Hamstring tightness isn’t in itself necessarily cause for great alarm, but it signals the likelihood of reinjury to that vital muscle group is high, so the Celtics have been proceeding with appropriate caution. Speaking to the media after practice on Saturday, Boston head coach Ime Udoka gave a brief update on Brown’s hamstring going into Game 1 of the second-round series.
“Jaylen is doing well the last few days,” related Udoka. “He looked good the last few days, felt good.”
“Still, we’ll get (him) re-evaluated after practice here by the medical staff,” added the Celtics coach.
“But, all signs (are) pointing in the right direction; (he) looked good the last few days.”
Brown also spoke at length about the status of his hamstring.
“I’m good,” he explained. “I went through some tests this week, got some treatment. I should be ready to roll.”
Hamstring injuries have a tendency to linger even when approached with care, which the Cal-Berkeley product discussed as well.
“Any time (you’re) dealing with a lingering injury, you want to be cautious and careful, but I think I’m okay,” he suggested. “This one is on the lower end of the spectrum, so I’ll be fine.”
“It was great being able to have a couple of days especially trying to get healthy and make sure everything was taken care of. It was essential to have a couple of days off, so credit to us taking care of business so we can have that.”
For now at least, it sounds as if Brown’s health is trending in the right direction.
If the Celtics hope to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals by defeating a hobbled defending champion, they’ll need to avoid becoming a hobbled version of themselves as well.
And given the news coming from competing teams left in the East playoffs, trending in the direction of health is no small advantage for Boston at present.
This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
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