Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart Out Again Wednesday Night When Celtics Host Magic
BOSTON (CBS) -- At some point this season, it may be easier to just write which players will be active for the Boston Celtics. Once again, the C's will be pretty shorthanded on Wednesday.
Boston will be without guards Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart for the second straight game Wednesday night, when the team welcomes the Orlando Magic to TD Garden. Center Daniel Theis will also miss the game after spraining his ankle during Monday night's win over the Hawks, as will Robert Williams, though we knew all of that late Tuesday afternoon.
C's head coach Brad Stevens said after Wednesday's morning shootaround that both Walker and Smart are feeling better, and neither injury is expected to be a long-term issue. But that won't help the Celtics on Wednesday night.
Walker has missed the last three games with left knee soreness, while Smart will miss his second straight game after suffering a right quad contusion, courtesy of a Joel Embiid knee to his midsection on Saturday night. Both are considered "day to day," according to Stevens.
Stevens said that Theis could be out longer than the "day to day" guys. He also said that they expected to get Robert Williams back to practice after the All-Star break. Williams has not played since Dec. 6 with a lingering issue in his left hip.
"The goal now that we've gotten even more good news is we're going to really start pushing him after the All-Star break," Stevens said of Williams. "Hopefully he'll be back soon after that. But supposedly, he'll be able to do most of our live practices when we come back [from the break]."
Despite their recent rash of injuries, the Celtics have won four straight and seven of their last eight games.