But it sort of is. When it comes to a player like that, losing him for something as crucial as a playoff series is never a good thing.
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In addition to extra minutes for Smart, the freakishly athletic rookie guard Terry Rozier will look to pick up some of the slack for the C’s.
“(Hunter and I) talked about it all (Saturday) night”, Rozier said Sunday at the team’s practice in Atlanta, via ESPN.com’s Chris Forsberg. I was once told pressure is not knowing what you’re doing. My name is Katie Morrison and I will be providing live coverage as well as commentary and the results of Game 1. Bradley being out hurts defensively, but the Celtics win game two in a shoot-out. “It’s just going out there and doing it. It’s just more time now”.
“(There’s) no change with Avery being out.
On Saturday night, the Boston Celtics’ valiant second-half effort versus the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference Semifinals came up short.
“We lost by 1 and missed all those [3-point] shots, so it’s pretty critical, I’d say”, Jerebko said. “We have to have other guys step up”.
“Hopefully [Bradley is] all right”, Turner said. He used the second most possessions (12.8 percent) behind Isaiah Thomas (19.8 percent) and was the team’s second-highest scorer, averaging 15.2 points per game with a 52.0 effective field goal percentage. “I have an opportunity”. Millsap was held to 14 points and seven rebounds, but did have three blocked shots, in Game 1. “I don’t know if that is something – if he got hit or what”. That’s just how he grew up playing, but all of that helps.
“We do have a lot more depth at our big spots”, Stevens admitted.
Coach Brad Stevens, too, seemed to want to spread out the task of replacing Bradley.
To steal a phrase from a former Boston Celtics head coach, Avery Bradley likely isn’t walking through that door any time soon.
All that said, he’s also a talented and versatile guard who is an integral part of everything Boston does on both sides of the court. In the meantime, the rest of Boston’s roster can only wish for a miraculous recovery from Bradley after seeing him leave the arena with the aide of a cane on Saturday night. “Instead of just playing through it, playing hard, getting back, picking up full court, just making life hard on them, we just went back in our shell a little bit”. Stevens asked Bradley to do both in Game 1, and while Korver misfired on a bunch of easy looks, Bradley relentlessness did throw off Korver’s rhythm early on. I think he went in transition and made a euro move. We just have a lot of depth.
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It is no secret that all of those players will need to rise to the occasion if Boston is to advance to the next round without the services of one of its most reliable two-way players. It’ll be especially missed late in games. At the end of the day, it was simply missed shots that doomed the C’s at the end of the game, and that’s why many NBA analysts – like one of our favorites, Jeff Van Gundy – understandably call the Association a “make-or-miss league”.
