Boston Celtics guard/forward Jae Crowder is targeting Thursday’s matchup at Portland for his return following a high ankle sprain injury earlier this month.
“Hopefully,” Crowder told Comcast SportsNet’s Kyle Draper when he asked about a potential return against the Blazers. “Unless I have a setback which I don’t think I’ll have.”
Since the injury against Houston on March 11, Crowder has gradually increased his rehabilitation workload to where he is now, days – not weeks – away from a possible return.
But Crowder readily admits there are still a few important steps he has to clear in order to feel good enough to resume action.
“I haven’t really cut on it yet,” Crowder said. “I’ve just been doing conditioning, shooting and stuff like that.”
Boston, which faces the Los Angeles Clippers tonight, is expected to have an optional practice tomorrow with a full team practice on Wednesday.
In Crowder’s mind, Tuesday will be a mandatory session that will go far in determining whether he will suit up on Thursday.
Boston Celtics
“I’m going to push it tomorrow,” Crowder said. “I’m going to go full tomorrow and see if I can get out there for the Portland game.”
Tonight’s game will be the eighth straight game he has missed which equals the number of games he has missed throughout his career prior to his high ankle sprain.
For Crowder, the toughest part about not playing has been the timing of his injury.
“If it happened earlier I would be OK with it,” Crowder said. “But it’s a crucial time of the year for our team. We want to finish the year out on the right note. I just want to get back healthy and give myself a chance to come back and be healthy for the playoffs.”
And while getting a few games under his belt prior to the postseason would be nice, Crowder knows that’s not necessarily a sure thing of happening.
“In a perfect world I would like to (play a few games prior to the playoffs),” Crowder said. “But it’s not the end of the world if I don’t.”
This season, Crowder has registered careers highs in just about every statistical category and has been credited as one of the keys to Boston’s improvement this season.
In 66 games (all starts) this season, Crowder has averaged 14.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals – all career highs.