The Boston Celtics suffered from a significant injury with Jae Crowder likely to miss “a couple of weeks” according to head coach Brad Stevens. The small forward is suffering from a high ankle sprain.
The Celtics have consistently overachieved and surprised this season. The team is currently in third place in the Eastern Conference at 39-27. However, they are only one game up on the Miami Heat and 1.5 games ahead of the fifth place Charlotte Hornets.
Crowder has arguably been the best player on the Celtics this year. His versatility on both ends of the floor has been huge for the team. Therefore, it is safe to wonder whether this injury could have a major impact on their standings going into the playoffs. The injury could very well be the difference between having or not having home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Nevertheless, the Celtics are now focused on the playoffs themselves. The most important thing is to have a fully healthy squad once the postseason begins. The Crowder injury puts a slight question mark on that, but the unofficial timetable should mean that he has some regular season time to shake off the rust before getting back to form for the playoffs.
In the meantime, Stevens will need help from the team’s depth to manage while one of their best players sits out. The Celtics will look to hold on to the third seed in order to get home-court advantage in the first round and avoid the Cleveland Cavaliers until a potential meeting in the Eastern Conference Finals. In order to do that, however, they will need a fully healthy Jae Crowder.
