BOSTON - The Celtics haven't had much trouble winning games without Kelly Olynyk lately, but that doesn't mean they aren't itching to get him back on the court.
The big man with plenty of range has been on the shelf for the last seven games with a partially separated shoulder. The Celtics have gone 5-2 in that stretch.
Brad Stevens said before Wednesday's game against the Blazers that Olynyk will be reevaluated on Monday "with a chance he'll up his activity". Details of what that means exactly aren't clear, but it does indicate that Olynyk is improving.
Meanwhile, the Celtics have been finding other ways to win, whether it means more minutes for Jared Sullinger, Jonas Jerebko, Tyler Zeller, or Jae Crowder at the power forward spot.
"Anytime you lose a guy, early on you kind of mask it, and then you have to figure out how you mask it and move forward the longer it extends," Stevens said. "Over the last two games we were a little better than the first four. Hopefully we continue to figure it out on the fly. The thing Kelly gives you the option of doing is playing with five shooters. We’re not going to do that with as much range, no matter what our lineup."
Olynyk is averaging 10.1 points and 4.3 rebounds this season for the Celtics, shooting 41.3-percent from three-point range.
He was going to be an injury replacement in this year's NBA All-Star Three-Point Contest, but his own shoulder injury kept him out of it.