Although this is the final week of the NBA regular season, the Boston Celtics still have at least one significant thing to iron out entering Tuesday’s game against the visiting Charlotte Hornets: making sure Nikola Vucevic fits comfortably into the rotation before the playoffs begin.
Vucevic returned to the court for Sunday’s 115-101 victory over Toronto after missing four weeks with a broken finger. The injury occurred in a March 6 game against Dallas, the same night Jayson Tatum returned from his Achilles injury.
Vucevic collected four points and four rebounds in 13 minutes against Toronto, but he also picked up four fouls.
“He was good,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I mean, it was only 13 minutes. I thought offensively he made the right reads, missed a couple. Second half, we kind of went to — it was almost, we were looking at some different matchup stuff, so we didn’t get him in as much as we wanted to in the second half. But he was fine, I thought. He’s just going to continue to get acclimated.”
Vucevic said regaining chemistry is the hardest part about returning after missing significant time with an injury.
“That just has to come from us playing and practicing together, which is good I get at least these five games in before the playoffs then we’ll have that week between that will help,” he said. “But I think as far as plays, coverages, kind of knowing what to do out there in different situations, that was pretty good for me. I did a lot of it throughout my rehab. A lot of my workouts were fully left-handed, but I was still learning plays like that.
“Just continue to play alongside all of the guys,” he continued. “Obviously me and JT didn’t get a lot of time together, but I think we’re both high-level players, both smart players, and I think we’ll be able to figure it out pretty quick. Just even being around the guys, the time I did play, I think it’s helped a lot. Obviously, it would have been great to have that full month that I missed, but it is what it is. We know we’ll try to make the best out of it in the next couple games. And then also I think that week leading up to the playoffs is going to help. We’ll probably have a couple practices which will help as well.”
The Celtics (53-25) will be looking to extend their winning streak to four games.
Charlotte (43-36) has won four in a row since it dropped a 114-99 decision to Boston at home on March 29. The Hornets are 9-2 in their last 11 games, and are trying to avoid the play-in tournament by finishing sixth or higher in the Eastern Conference.
Charlotte will participate in the postseason for the first time since 2015-16, when the Hornets lost to Miami in the first round.
The Hornets beat the Celtics 118-89 when the teams met in Boston on March 4. Charlotte’s Miles Bridges said dealing with Boston’s physicality will be paramount Tuesday night.
“We came into their place and beat them,” he said. “Then they came into our place and beat us, so we want to return the favor and start getting ready for the playoffs.”
