BOSTON — It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Jrue Holiday on the injury front. He was diagnosed with right hand mallet finger, and it first popped up on the injury report ahead of the Celtics’ game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the end of February. When speaking with reporters in the locker room a few days later, he provided an update. “He's treating the pain but offered no timetable for his return,” Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe wrote in a tweet. “He basically said the finger is broken.”
Holiday made his return to the court against the Los Angeles Lakers after missing four straight games, and he played against the Utah Jazz, too.
Now, it’s all about management, especially with the splint that is now occupying his pinky finger.
Jrue Holiday gives update on right hand mallet finger
When speaking with reporters on Wednesday morning after shootaround, Holiday said that he’s getting used to playing with it, but there’s no other way to do it than to do it.
“You just gotta do it,” Holiday said. “That’s pretty much it. Just gotta do it.”
Holiday has played 30-plus minutes in both games since returning to the floor, though there was a bit of a feeling out process for the first few possessions.
“It was good. It was a bit weird, but I think after that, I just did my best not to worry about it,” Holiday said. “Sometimes dribbling is a little loose, but no effect. I mean, I have it on all day, so it's starting to become a part of me.”
For the Celtics fans desperately wanting to figure out every possible loose thread regarding the state of this team, here is one of them. It's important to understand that Holiday's injury is not gone, even though he's off the injury report. He's simply dealing with what has been thrown his way.
With the postseason just over a month away, Holiday’s health will be a crucial part of the Celtics’ priorities list over the next few weeks. While he may already be back from his injury, it’s not something that will just go away.
Holiday said that he doesn’t plan to have surgery on the finger, which means the injury management plan will be about trying to get it to heal naturally. And if it doesn’t, he’ll simply have to play through the pain and go from there.
Payton Pritchard’s emergence as an elite sixth man will undoubtedly lessen the load on Holiday heading down the stretch of the regular season, but Boston will need his defense in the playoffs.
Ensuring that Holiday is feeling as healthy as possible once the playoffs start will be key for Boston. But for now, all he can do is try to get used to the splint he’s wearing. And it sounds like he’s trying to do just that.