Boston Celtics center Nikola Vucevic is set to return on Sunday against the Toronto Raptors, after missing the last 14 games with a broken right ring finger. Vucevic was initially listed as questionable on Saturday’s injury report, before ultimately being upgraded to available in the hours before tip-off.
Vucevic initially sustained the injury back on March 6, just minutes into his shift against the Dallas Mavericks. He underwent surgery the next day and was given a three-to-four-week recovery timeline.
He wasted no time attacking his rehab process, according to head coach Joe Mazzulla, who told reporters in Miami that the big man was doing cardio work two days after his surgery.
The morning of Boston’s matchup with the Heat, the 35-year-old got in some live three-on-three work with the team’s coaching staff at shootaround.
Vucevic getting some on-court work in, too https://t.co/FrRHK2MygZ pic.twitter.com/3B8xoY0aIC
— Sam LaFrance (@SamLaFranceNBA) April 1, 2026
At that point, it felt like a return was right around the corner.
“He’s getting better, as you saw in the workout today,” Mazzulla explained Wednesday. “The most important thing is that he feels 100%. When he’s ready, he’ll come back, and we just want him back when he’s ready to go. He’s going to help us — we obviously see the impact that he has on us as a player, especially last time we played Miami, he was huge.”
The game Mazzulla was talking about, the Feb. 6 matchup against the Heat, was Vucevic’s Celtics debut. He played a vital role in an electric second-half comeback by the Cs, who were down by as many as 22 points, with an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double off of Boston’s bench.
Vucevic should help the Celtics reach their ceiling come playoff time
As Mazzulla said, Vucevic should help the Celtics reach their top gear come playoff time. His potential fit with Jayson Tatum was one of the more exciting aspects of adding him at the trade deadline.
Vuc's ability to stretch the floor stands out. He should be able to provide similar spacing to that of Al Horford, who saw plenty of open threes on dishes from Tatum during his time in green.
Over Vucevic’s last two seasons, he’s shot 40.2% and 37.3% from deep, respectively.
Though he was still finding his fit in Boston before he got hurt, Vucevic gave the Cs good production with 10.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 44.5% from the field and 35.1% from long range.
The way he and Tatum gel together will be an intersting storyline to watch over this last week of games. They'll only have five (likely four considering JT won't play both legs of the Thursday-Friday back-to-back) to get a feel for one another before the regular season comes to a close.