Friday night at FedEx Forum, the Boston Celtics earned a 117-112 victory vs. the Memphis Grizzlies. One of the stars of the game for the visitors was Luka Garza. The fifth-year center played nearly the entire final frame. He went 5/5 and put 11 points on the board, matching Derrick White for the most in the quarter. He finished the evening with 22 points, his most as a Celtic, and seven rebounds, including five at the offensive end.
"It's fun. When you get in, kind of, a rhythm like that and get to the glass and can make little plays, it's a lot of fun. But I think every night, we have a lot of guys who do that. Baylor [Scheierman], Hugo [Gonzalez], [Jordan] Walsh. Guys have always stepped up," said Garza post-game. "It's definitely fun when you're the guy doing that."
Earlier in the day, another one of Boston's centers met with the media.
Nikola Vucevic provides an update on his injured finger
Twelve games into his Celtics tenure, Nikola Vucevic suffered a right ring finger fracture. It occurred just 1:47 into his first-quarter shift against the Dallas Mavericks. How exactly it happened remains a bit of a mystery to him.
"I'm not even sure [what happened]," said Vucevic, per the Boston Globe. "Honestly, I only saw it from the kind of angle where I see my back. But I think he [Mavericks center Moussa Cisse] swiped at the ball to try to get it out, and then clipped my hand. I assume our fingers got caught or something. All I felt was like a little pop, so I knew something was wrong right away. A lot of times, you usually hope it's just dislocated. You just try to put it back. Just a freaky play."
That was also the night Jayson Tatum returned from his Achilles tear. The former Chicago Bulls center has hardly had time to adapt to playing with his new teammates and vice versa. He and Tatum could form a potent partnership, but they'll have minimal reps together before the postseason.
"Obviously, the hardest part is that you don't get to play while the team does," voiced Vucevic. "It's been good to be around the guys. I miss being on the court and competing, and the toughest part about athletes is when you're injured, you have to miss extended time."
Fortunately, two weeks after sustaining the fracture, the pain is subsiding. He'll soon get an X-ray. The two-time All-Star is hoping it will signal he's ready to increase his workload as he pushes to rejoin the lineup.
"So far, I haven't had much pain or anything; everything has been going well," conveyed Vucevic. "The swelling is coming down, and [I've] been working [on] the range of motion. So, hopefully, the X-ray is clean at three weeks, and I can start doing some stuff and just getting back to being comfortable and building strength in the hand."
In the meantime, he is doing some work on the court while sporting a bulkier brace than the one he wears while he's watching his team from the bench.
"The good thing is I can still do some stuff on the court," said Vucevic. "That will help me for when I come back (to be in) shape, and hopefully I get a couple games before the playoffs, get back in rhythm with the guys that week between regular season and playoffs, everyÂthing going as smoothly as possible."