Celtics shooting guard Avery Bradley is “very unlikely” to play the rest of the playoff series against the Hawks after suffering a hamstring injury in Game 1 Saturday night.
“Avery has a pretty significant strained hamstring,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens told reporters Sunday. “He’s very unlikely for rest of the series.”
Bradley suffered the injury to his right hamstring in the fourth quarter of the Hawks’ 102-101 victory. The injury occurred with 6:42 remaining and the Celtics leading 83-80. The Hawks outscored the Celtics 22-18 from that point to win the series opener. Bradley had 18 points before leaving the game. He was 7 of 16 from the floor, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range.
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer heard the news regarding Bradley moments before speaking to the media Sunday.
“We are always more focused on what we need to do, at both ends of the court, regardless of who is playing,” Budenholzer said. “I think all coaches, all players, have experience, regular season, postseason, with guys being out of the lineup and seeing guys step up and do more with opportunity. … He’s a heck of a player, heck of a defender. He does a lot of things for them on both ends of the court but I’m sure there are other guys there looking to do more and step up with more opportunity.”
Marcus Smart and Evan Turner are candidates to replace Bradley in the Celtics starting lineup for Game 2 on Tuesday in Atlanta.
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