WALTHAM, Mass. – The Boston Celtics lost Gerald Wallace for the season on Tuesday but other reinforcements may be on the way.
Wallace underwent multiple surgeries Tuesday morning to repair injuries to his left ankle and knee. The Celtics have declared him as out for the remainder of the season.
Brad Stevens, who broke the news to the media prior to Tuesday’s practice, said that “the ankle (recovery) alone was three to four months to be cleared.” Such a timetable would mean that Wallace will likely be cleared to return to basketball activities around the NBA Draft at the end of June.
While the news of Wallace being lost for the season does not come as a surprise, it does stand as a blow for the C’s. Wallace was one of only nine healthy bodies available for Boston on Wednesday against the Hawks, and then the C’s had only 10 players available on Saturday against the Pacers.
Fortunately for Boston those numbers are likely to rise this week. It sounds as if Kelly Olynyk, who has missed the last two games with a sprained left big toe, will be active for Wednesday’s showdown with the Warriors.
“Kelly Olynyk will practice today,” Stevens said, “and then our doctor will re-evaluate him tomorrow morning off of the practice, after a 12-hour rest between practice and re-evaluation.”
The coach then continued with his update on Avery Bradley, who may not be too far behind Olynyk.
Brad Stevens told the media that Avery Bradley may be returning to the Celtics' rotation soon.
Steve Babineau/NBAE/Getty Images
“He does an MRI tomorrow and I just talked to him. He feels much better than he even felt before he came back the first time,” Stevens said of his young shooting guard. “Hopefully he’s given the clearance soon, but that will be dependent on the MRI and the re-evaluation, which will be tomorrow-Friday, that time frame.”
Bradley has missed 14 of the last 17 games with a sprained right ankle. He briefly returned to play in three games at the beginning of February but has not traveled with the team for any of its road games since Feb. 5.
This morning’s report from Stevens makes it sound likely that Bradley’s absence will come to an end in the near future. The same can be said for Olynyk, who will return to the lineup Wednesday night barring any injuries.
Boston had been ravaged by injury news for the past couple of weeks and that trend continued into Tuesday morning with Wallace’s double-surgery. Wednesday may finally be the day in which players begin to return to the lineup, rather than the other way around.