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Avery Bradley will play through fractured thumb

That sounds painful.

Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

I've never questioned Avery Bradley's toughness.  The guy played through a separated shoulder that popped out 4 times during the playoffs a few years back.  So it is no surprise to hear that he intends to play through the pain with a fractured thumb.

Notebook: Prince's hip; Bradley's thumb - Boston Celtics Blog - ESPN Boston

Celtics shooting guard Avery Bradley suffered a left thumb sprain during Sunday's loss and said that X-rays revealed there might be a small fracture. It didn't stop Bradley from returning to Sunday's game after the injury, and he said he doesn't believe he'll miss time moving forward. "It's been messed up, I think I fractured it today [when] I fell on it [going for a steal]," Bradley said. "But it's fine. It's not my shooting hand so I'll be OK. ... I'll just go out there and keep playing -- tape it up and keep playing."

On one hand that's admirable.  On the other hand, he's putting his body at risk again.  Remember that he injured his other shoulder by compensating for the first one.  That required a 2nd surgery to repair the damage done.  Hopefully he doesn't have a similar aggravation of the injury or overcompensation issue.  He's developing nicely along with the rest of the team, but this isn't exactly the kind of year that you'd want to risk your career to keep playing through an injury.

All that said, I think we'll have to trust the training staff and Avery himself to make the best choice for him going forward.

In other injury news, (in case you missed it in the recap) Tayshaun Prince missed the game yesterday due to a hip flexor. It is a nagging injury for him but he hopes to be able to play in the next game.

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