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Kelly Olynyk has been a bit off since returning from his ankle injury, but something clicked yesterday and he had his best game of his young professional career.
For one day, at least, and hopefully more to come, Kelly Olynyk stopped looking timid. He attacked with the pass, let open shots fly and scored a career-high 21 points, three more than he totaled over the previous five games.
It sounds like he's feeling more healthy and back to normal on the court.
Notebook: Olynyk's career night - Boston Celtics Blog - ESPN Boston
"I definitely felt more comfortable," he said. "I was moving better off the ankle and stuff. I felt more fluid and back to how I was feeling before." Later he added, "You’ve got to get back in the flow [after an injury]. It’s not the same. First of all, you don’t feel the same. You’re not moving the same. You don’t have the same push or the same power. So your shot is a little bit off, some here, some there. Your jumping and stuff; defensively. So you’ve kind of got to get back into the swing of things and then get back in that physical presence too because with that ankle, you’re not moving for two weeks. It’s kind of tough."
Courtney Lee called him the "Gonzaga Killer," though I don't think that nickname is going to stick. I still prefer "Sunshine" but I know that doesn't exactly strike fear into the hearts of opponents. Regardless, it was really nice to see him have such a good game. Especially when there wasn't a lot else to be excited about yesterday.