Al Horford, Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley Among Celtics Who Played Injured vs Cavs

The Boston Celtics were reportedly dealing with numerous physical setbacks when playing against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

According to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, Al Horford was playing through an elbow injury, Marcus Smart was dealing with "significant back spasms," and Jaylen Brown and Avery Bradley suffered hip injuries.

That's not even including Isaiah Thomas' hip injury, which kept him out of the final three games of the series.

President of basketball operations Danny Ainge said neither Horford's elbow injury nor Smart's back spasms will require offseason surgery.

"It was just guys playing with a lot of stuff," Ainge said, per Himmelsbach. "But Avery had some incredible performances, especially when you’ve got a hip pointer on both hips. I mean, that's pretty tough."

This news comes after Thomas said he is waiting for the swelling in his hip to decrease before ultimately deciding whether he will need surgery in the offseason, via Himmelsbach.

Considering how dominant the Cavaliers have been all postseason, it is disingenuous to say the No. 1-seeded Celtics would have won the series if healthy. After all, every team is dealing with bumps and bruises this late into the year even if Boston's were more significant, and LeBron James was on the other side.

Still, the injuries make Boston's Game 3 win all the more impressive, especially since Thomas was sidelined and the injured Bradley hit the game-winner.

The Celtics will now look to use the offseason to return to health and add the No. 1 pick—if they don't trade it—to a core that won 53 games and reached the conference finals.