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Avery Bradley was admittedly rusty last night after missing 19 of the last 22 games. His outside shot, in particular, was off.
Notebook: Bradley's return glimpse - Boston Celtics Blog - ESPN Boston
Bradley missed all seven shots he took away from the basket and all four of his makes came near the rim. He said he tried to pick up his defensive intensity because of the obvious rust on his jumper.
One interesting note is that Bradley said that he stopped taping up his ankles this year and that may have led directly to having prolonged issues with them.
Whatever the case may be, it was nice to get him out there on the court again. In particular, it is great to get him on the court with Rajon Rondo.
Green Street " Avery Bradley returns ‘rusty’ and hungers for more playing time
"Hopefully we’ll get to see that quite a bit in the last month here," Stevens said. "Knock on wood, because they haven’t been able to play much together over the first four years they’ve been together. I think it’s really a duo that you would think would complement each other very well based on the strengths on both ends of the court. Hopefully we’ll see that again with a healthy month left in the season."
Just how few games have they shared the court? Per Sean Grande, they've only played together 55 times in 4 years (a total of 295 games). With (restricted) free agency looming for Bradley, it becomes very important to get a feel for how he fits with both Rondo and Brad Stevens.
The next month will be an interesting opportunity for him to show how important he could be for this team in the future. Provided he and Rondo both stay relatively healthy and on the court.