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At today's (rare) practice at Waltham today, the team shed some light on its health and outlook for the rest of the regular season and the start of the playoffs this weekend.
Ray Allen "Bone spurs." I hear those words and I picture Larry Bird in walking boots and then I cry a little. Unfortunately, that's what he's dealing with. They're apparently the size of grains of salt, but he's been in walking boots during the off days and the following quotes are pretty ominous:
Ray Allen's timetable still cloudy
It's still being a little troublesome. It's getting better. I'm aggressively treating it. I ran today (on a low-impact exercise machine) for the first time in three or four days. We'll see how it responds.
Doc says:
It's not healing. It's getting better, slowly, but until it gets all the way, we're going to keep sitting him. If he can play Thursday, we'll play him. Not a lot, but we'll play him.
It sounds eerily like KG in 2009.
Mickael Pietrus MP also sat out practice today with his sore knee. With home court advantage against the Hawks still in the balance, Doc said there'd be a chance he'd play tomorrow night against the Heat.
Rajon Rondo After taking that spill in New York and sitting out Friday, the swelling in his back is down but he gets the occasional spasm and tightness. The key to his health is avoiding contact, but with Rondo, that seems improbable.
Rajon Rondo Will Not Shy From Contact, So Playing It Safe With Sore Back a Good Decision
Right now, I don't want to do any contact at the moment. I think I'll be able to play and I'll be fine, but I hit the floor a lot, so I've got to get it as healthy as possible because I know if I play, I'll hit the floor again.
Greg Stiemsma Stiemer didn't practice today either but that's been standard protocol. The big man's dealing with plantar fasciitis. After the gaunlet run of 12 games in 17 nights, Greg put it best:
Celtics don’t mind getting some rest
A couple of days to give our bodies rest, and get our minds set for what we're getting into. We're at the point where we can go into any building and win, as long as we're healthy. That's No. 1. If we can get our bodies right we feel comfortable going on the road, and we feel really good at home. When we head back home with this momentum, we'll be all right.
I'm beginning to side with the health over home court argument. Get well, guys.