Semi Ojeleye suffers hip injury versus the Bucks

Boston Celtics wing Semi Ojeleye went down in second quarter of game vs MIL

Boston Celtics forward Semi Ojeleye suffered an apparent hip injury in Wednesday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Ojeleye had been in the game for five minutes before taking a hard screen from Milwaukee guard Jrue Holiday.

When he went down, the forward had made his only shot attempt. After making contact with Holiday, Ojeleye grabbed his left hip as he went down on the court. He had to be helped off by teammate Jaylen Brown and a pair of the team’s trainers.

He went straight to the locker room after the collision.

Ojeleye, one of the team’s better defensive players, was tasked with guarding the Bucks star player and reigning NBA Most Valuable Player/ Defensive Player of the Year, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

He had officially been diagnosed with a left hip contusion and was ruled out for the remainder of the game, as originally reported by NBC Sports reporter Chris Forsberg.

He has appeared in 40 of the 44 games played this season by the Boston Celtics and was in the starting lineup for nine of them. In his 19 minutes per game, Ojeleye is averaging a career-high 5.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists on 40.5 percent shooting from the field and a career-high 38.7 percent from beyond the arc.

The Celtics are 3-6 in games that he started this season.

This isn’t the first time he’s been injured so far this year. Recently he suffered from right knee soreness and also missed a couple of games when he was in the NBA health and safety protocols due to contact tracing with COVID-19.

Coming into the game against Milwaukee, Boston had a lackluster season to say the very least. Coming in at 21-22 and the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics looked to turn their season around. A serious injury to Ojeleye could derail the hopes for success as he is a key bench piece for the C’s.