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Wednesday, November 2 - Bulls at Celtics
Pregame – Zeller, Mickey Expected to Step Up
BOSTON – When Celtics coach Brad Stevens addressed the media Wednesday evening an hour and 45 minutes before tipping off against the Chicago Bulls, he delivered some good news and some bad news.
The good news: Both Avery Bradley (shoulder) and Marcus Smart (ankle) had been cleared to play and would not face restricted minutes against Chicago.
The bad news: That Al Horford had been diagnosed with a concussion Tuesday afternoon, one day after being accidentally swiped across the face by one of his teammates during practice.
Stevens revealed that not only will Horford not play tonight against the Bulls, but that he will also not travel with the team after the game to Cleveland, meaning the Celtics will miss his presence when they take on the defending champion Cavaliers Thursday night.
Boston is now without two of its bigs, as center/forward Kelly Olynyk remains sidelined as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery.
With Horford out, the Celtics will rely upon a couple of their backup bigs during the next two nights.
Tyler Zeller will start at center tonight in place of Horford, and Stevens says he’s confident throwing the 7-footer into that position since he’s done it on a number of occasions before.
“Tyler’s been a guy, when fully healthy, that’s started big games for us and has played really well,” said Stevens. “With his size, with [Chicago’s] rebounding, we’re going to need guys to get them off the glass.”
Stevens says that Horford’s absence could also open up extended playing time for Jordan Mickey. The second-year forward has only seen eight minutes of action through three games so far, but his teammates feel comfortable if he’s given a larger role during these two critical games.
“You can really tell that he worked on his game this summer,” said fellow forward Jonas Jerebko. “He’s matured and obviously he’s a better player than he was last year. He’s playing consistent defense, which he’s always done, but he’s starting to knock down that midrange jumper too. And he’s always a beast in blocking shots and grabbing rebounds.”
Grabbing rebounds, as Stevens indicated, will be major focal point for the Celtics tonight considering they were out-rebounded by the Bulls, 55-36, during last Thursday’s six-point loss.
While Mickey has shown prowess on the boards, after averaging 11.2 rebounds per 36 minutes during the preseason, Stevens says it’s going to take more than one guy to make an impact against Chicago’s collectively strong inside presence.
“That’s not going to be a one-person thing; that’s going to be a five-person thing,” said Stevens. “This is a really good rebounding team. I thought they played good against us, but I thought they played outstanding their next two games. So this is a team that’s pretty hot coming in and we’re going to have to get them off the glass for sure.”
Zeller and Mickey must make an impact on the boards tonight if the C’s hope to hand Chicago its first loss of the season.
Then it’s off to Cleveland, where Boston will face what will surely be one of its biggest challenges of the year, especially without the services of their four-time All-Star center.
- Taylor C. Snow