Celtics fans got a double-dose of disappointing news with the release of the Saturday injury report.
Despite speculation that NBC’s flexing of the Sunday night Celtics-Sixers game into prime time was an indication that Jayson Tatum planned his return for March 1, Tatum remains out for the game. Celtics fans are closely watching the injury report, as an upgrade to doubtful or questionable is often the first indication of an impending return.
While we wait for Tatum news, Baylor Scheierman has landed on the injury report with a fractured left thumb. He is listed as questionable for the Sixers game.
He was seen grabbing at the thumb after a collision in transition in the first half against Brooklyn. He went to the bench and got it taped, and he finished the game. You can see the thin strip of tape on his left thumb in this game photo.
There is no update from the team on how the injury was suffered, however it’s not unheard of for players to play through non-displaced fractures on a finger or thumb, but this being on Scheierman’s shooting hand complicates matters. This time leading up to the game may be a matter of figuring out possible tape jobs to protect the thumb so the injury doesn’t get worse if he plays through it.
There are only seven weeks left in the season, so Scheierman could be at risk for missing most or all of it if he sits out the typical amount of time it takes for a bone to heal. But at this point, this is only speculation. It’s something to monitor in the coming days to see how the Celtics approach the injury.
Scheierman has been a major reason for Boston’s recent defensive improvement. He’s been owning his one-on-one defensive matchups and grabbing more than 20% of the available defensive rebounds.
“His rebounding outside of his area is big,” Joe Mazzulla recently said. “So whether he’s boxing the guy out or whether he’s on the perimeter, he comes back and crashes defensively and gets those, and so that helps us get out in transition, but I think he’s playing at a great level for us defensively, and really on the rebounding piece on both ends.”
Scheierman is averaging 4.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.1 assists for the season, but he’s up to 7.7/6.5/2.4 in February, where he’s started nine of 11 games.
