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If there are any concerns over the health of Marcus Smart and Romeo Langford, they should be minimal at best.
Smart, who missed Thursday’s practice due to illness, kept his absence to a single day as he was back on the court for the Boston Celtics practicing Friday.
Marcus Smart back on the court after missing Thursday due to illness. Getting up post-practice shots with Kemba. pic.twitter.com/kxNZOe1VF4
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) October 4, 2019
While Langford has been a regular sight at practice, he hasn’t been a full go due to a groin injury. According to MassLive’s Tom Westerholm, Langford is just dealing with a tweaked groin. Celtics coach Brad Stevens isn’t alarmed over Langford’s inability to play in live-action scrimmages yet and expects that to change within a day or two.
Brad Stevens said everyone practiced, and that Romeo Langford, who has been dealing with a groin issue, did everything but scrimmage today. Says he's encouraged by the progress Langford has made with his jump shot.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) October 4, 2019
Either way, the Celtics are being cautious with their top draft pick from this year’s NBA Draft as Langford already had to overcome surgery to repair tendons in his right thumb that prevented him from playing in the Summer League.
By not going live yet, it has given Langford ample time to work on his much maligned shot as he made just mere 27.2 percent of his attemps from beyond the arc in his only season at Indiana University. Nevertheless, Stevens has been encouraged with the work Langford has put in so far during training camp.
“It’s funny, even when he’s playing open gym before the season, (his shot) seemed to go in a little bit more when he was playing,” Stevens said. “He’s got touch, he knows how to score the ball. He’s a good player. The game comes really easy to him.”