The injury train has plagued the NBA this season. With many players expected to return from injuries for the playoffs, the Boston Celtics received devastating news for their center’s health for the playoffs.
As Shams Charania reported, Celtics center Daniel Theis has suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee, and will undergo season-ending surgery. Theis has been a crucial reserve for the Celtics this season. In only 14.9 minutes per game, he was averaging 5.3ppg, 4.3rpg, 0.8bpg, with a shooting split of 61.7/31.0/75.3.
The biggest problem for the Celtics is their best attribute to counter many other Eastern Conference teams was their depth, size, and rebounding. With the loss of Theis, the Celtics will all 3 of these things. Fellow backup centers, Aron Baynes and Greg Monroe will likely absorb his minutes. Monroe has always been a threat to score, but his defense has always been a liability, and should only be used in a specialty role.
If Brad Stevens is telling the unfortunate truth about the return of Gordon Hayward, the Celtics are facing a tough road to get to the NBA Finals once again. The Celtics still have a good amount of depth, which will be crucial to outlasting teams in a 7 game series, but the lack of scorers outside of Kyrie Irving usually never bold well in the playoffs when defenses start to clamp down.
NBA Source Today 