Boston – Whereas all eyes can be on the standing of Kristaps Porzingis earlier than match 2 of the Celtics towards the Knicks, they took one other harm to Sam Hauser. The reserve striker was pressured to go away the defeat of match 1 early as a result of a sprain with a proper ankle.
At this level, Celtic coach Joe Mazzulla mentioned Hauser was day by day with the harm. This due to this fact signifies that the C have been pressured to shut the match 1 with out two rotation gamers, though Hauser didn’t play first half on Monday.
“Every part was simply on matches and submodels,” mentioned Mazzulla. “Every part has modified with coarse issues and akin to sure submodels for them, so you’re employed to do it all through a match.”
The Celtics entered the second spherical towards the Knicks totally wholesome with particular person listed on the harm report. Jayson Tatum (wrist) and Jaylen Brown (knee) performed their respective accidents towards magic. Jrue Vacation (hamstrings) additionally got here from an absence of three video games, so issues appeared good.
However these new accidents for Porzingis and Hauser are the most recent setbacks. Hauser solely performed in 4 minutes in match 1 after the ankle harm made him go away the match. He was a coherent rotation participant for C, so even when he didn’t play within the first half, any persistent downside will have an effect on Boston’s depth sooner or later.
The Celtics will attempt to bounce again after their stunning defeat of match 1 towards the Knicks. They have been up 20 factors in the midst of the third quarter solely to spit the advance. The C has established a report for NBA qualifiers with 45 3 missed factors whereas the Knicks capitalized on these failures.
“We’re speaking about expectation of expectations, it isn’t alleged to go in a means,” mentioned Mazzulla. “Every sequence is totally different. Every season is totally different. Simply handle expectations and concentrate on the issues you recognize that you could management in a sport. And that is simply how the eliminatory sequence are the flexibility to handle these moments.”
