Avery Bradley Injury: Updates on Celtics Guard's Finger and Return
Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley left Sunday's game against the San Antonio Spurs and was seen wearing a splint after suffering a sprained right index finger.
Continue for updates.
Bradley's Shooting Hand Ailing
Sunday, Nov. 1
Bradley, 25, was also wearing a wrap around his wrist, per Ben Rohrbach of WEEI. He had 18 points and three assists on 7-of-18 shooting before the injury.
The Texas product's career has been riddled with injuries, as last year was the first time he hadn't missed at least 10 games in a season. He's missed 20-plus games in three of his five NBA seasons, including two of the last three.
The longest-tenured player on the Celtics roster, Bradley is averaging 8.5 points and 2.5 assists coming into Sunday night. While he's yet to become an elite distributor or off-the-dribble creator, the Celtics rely on Bradley for consistent, tenacious defense and knock-down shooting from three-point range. Bradley came into 2015-16 dead set on improving his efficiency from deep.
"I want to be one of the better shooters in the NBA," Bradley said, per Jay King of Mass Live. "Not just on our team. I'm just going to continue to work on my 3-point shooting game, and all-around game, but that's my focus this year: I want to shoot like 40 percent from three, nothing less. I just have to continue to put that work in."
The Celtics have a ton of backcourt help, so they'll be fine if Bradley's injury is short term. Marcus Smart is a tenacious defender who can pick up Bradley's slack, Isaiah Thomas is a score-first spark plug off the bench and James Young might be ready for more extended work in his second season.
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