In last night’s victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, the Boston Celtics achieved their first victory on the road against a Western Conference opponent for the first time in 32 games with a late game-winner from Celtics guard Evan Turner.
In the process of achieving the big victory, the Celtics look like they lost a big piece to their future in their stretch center, Kelly Olynyk, who injured his ankle.
From Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
Olynyk is on crutches. He could be out a while #Celtics
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) January 23, 2015
If Olynyk is out for a while that could be bad for the team. Considering where they are in the standings, it might not be good for their playoff chances. If the Celtics want any playoff chances.
Look for Tyler Zeller and Brandon Bass to step up and try and fill in the role Kelly Olynyk had in the rotation. While a player with his versatile skill and ability to go both inside and out will be missed, both those guys are very serviceable.
They’re only 2.5 games out of 8th in the Eastern Conference and 3 games out of the 7th spot. They have been making trade, after trade, after trade to elude to the fact that they might be tanking but it doesn’t seem like the players are giving up quite yet.
They still have some young talent with a small mix of veterans so if they could sneak into the 8th seed, despite the fact they’re almost giving players away, it might be a big surprise to Celtics management.
