The updates were pouring in very quickly on Friday night, but the news was largely overshadowed by Jayson Tatum’s return. Still, Shams Charania of ESPN found a way to quickly report during the third quarter of the game, not only that Nikola Vucevic had fractured his finger, but also that he would undergo surgery on Saturday and was expected to miss approximately a month.
That report felt absurdly immediate and specific, but it appears his information was pretty solid: the Celtics released a statement on Saturday morning confirming that Vooch had undergone successful surgery to stabilize a fracture in his right ring finger and that he will be reevaluated in 3-4 weeks.
Vucevic has chance to return during regular season
It’s a tough break for the big trade deadline acquisition, who has been trying to get acclimated to his new team ahead of a playoff run. Now, that process will be interrupted, and Vooch will miss out on this key opportunity to gel with the freshly returned Jayson Tatum.
Three weeks from the surgery would be Saturday, March 28th, and four weeks out would be Saturday, April 4th. There’s no guarantee that Vucevic will be able to return upon being reevaluated, but with the regular season ending on April 12th, there’s at least a shot that he could return and get a few games under his belt before the playoffs start.
Injury creates opportunity for Luka Garza
While this is a brutal blow to the Cs at a tough time, it could be a blessing in disguise for Luka Garza. Garza has done an admirable job as a backup center this season, but basically lost his job as soon as Vooch arrived.
Vucevic has been up and down in Boston, and he has had some big scoring nights and delivered a new element of post-scoring, floor spacing, and passing that wasn’t there before, but the shot has been inconsistent, the defense has been bad, and his fit with what the rest of the team is trying to do on both ends has been clunky, at best.
Garza may not be as talented, but his motor is absolutely relentless, and you know you’re getting maximum effort every second he’s on the floor. He’s a total pest on the glass, and his touch and skill on offense are underrated.
Due to the injury to Vooch, Garza will get his backup center job back, at least for a few weeks, but possibly for longer. If he can give Boston solid minutes, like he was before, and find a rhythm with the bench, and maybe even with Tatum, Joe Mazzulla should give serious consideration to rolling with Luka over Vooch in the playoffs.
Things will be matchup dependent for sure, and I don’t think they should completely give up on Vucevic, or anything like that. But the same should be said for Garza. He was discarded, perhaps unfairly, and he should have the chance to prove himself and earn that job back.