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Kelly Olynyk reveals Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton has broken ribs

Don't poke the bear, Kelly!

Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Kelly Olynyk may have inadvertently irked the team that his Celtics share the TD Garden with when he let slip the severity of an injury suffered by Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton.

In explaining his incentive for playing through a severe eye injury during last night's key victory over the Indiana Pacers, Olynyk spilled the beans on his fellow Boston athlete by telling reporters in his postgame interview that Hamilton is dealing with broken ribs.

"I remember two days ago, I was texting Dougie Hamilton, and he told me he broke his ribs and he's trying to come back before the playoffs, and I was like, man, I can't sit out, he's gonna rip me," said Olynyk. "All those hockey guys would have killed me so I had to do it."

Olynyk took an elbow to the face during pregame warmups, putting his availability for last night's game in doubt. He didn't have the luxury of hiding his injury, considering his eye had swelled to the size of a hockey puck, but that didn't stop Olynyk from coming through with a gutsy performance against a team Boston is fighting for the final playoff spot in the East.

Despite that he could barely see out of one eye, Olynyk delivered an efficient 19 points off the bench to match Tyler Zeller for the team lead. The Celtics center duo also did an impressive job in containing Pacers big man Roy Hibbert, limiting the former All-Star to a mere 7 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field. Hibbert's inability to stay with Olynyk on the perimeter ended up getting him sent to the bench, as the Celtics began to pull away in the 4th quarter.

Hamilton has been sidelined since suffering what the Bruins are calling an upper-body injury since March 21. Coach Claude Julian reported that Hamilton would be out indefinitely, but refused to delve into further detail regarding the injury. Apparently Olynyk has handled that for him.

It's common for hockey teams not to reveal the extent of a player's injuries, so the Bruins can't be thrilled that Olynyk took away any competitive advantage that comes with keeping the injury a mystery. There is also concern that once Hamilton returns, opponents may look to exploit the injury now that they know what it is. Olynyk clearly wasn't thinking about that, considering he doesn't play a sport where hitting people is actually encouraged. Still, you would think the Canadian native would have known better.

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