BOSTON – The regular season opener is less than a week away and there’s a good chance that the Celtics will start without two key rotation players.
Marcus Smart sprained his left ankle in Wednesday’s 121-96 preseason loss to the New York Knicks and that has put his availability for the start of the season in serious doubt.
Danny Ainge, Boston’s president of basketball operations, said on Thursday that it’s unclear if Smart will be healthy enough for the season opener Wednesday at TD Garden against the Brooklyn Nets or how much time, if any, he’ll miss with the injury.
Obviously we’ll be very careful with him,” Ainge said on the Toucher & Rich show, simulcast on CSN. “The next few days we’ll have a better indication on Marcus’ ankle and how much it swells. It didn’t seem to be a terrible one, and yet he was in some pain so it is a little bit concerning.”
Ainge also mentioned that Kelly Olynyk, still on the mend from offseason shoulder surgery, was not going to be available for the start of the season.
“Optimistically we’re looking for the middle of November, for his return,” Ainge said.
Both Smart and Olynyk are being looked to provide strong play off the Celtics’ bench this season. With Smart unlikely to play at the start of the season and Olynyk definitely out, Boston will delve deeper into its bench which once again will be one of the team’s biggest strengths.
Boston Celtics
Terry Rozier, who was slated to log most of the minutes vacated by Evan Turner (now in Portland), will likely see more playing time if Smart is unable to go. As for Olynyk, a combination of Jaylen Brown, Jonas Jerebko and potentially longer stints for Jae Crowder, are likely to be some of the options Boston will turn to at the start of the season.