Report: Brogdon suffered partial tendon tear in right arm during ECF opener originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Malcolm Brogdon was a huge part of the Boston Celtics’ success during the regular season, but he did not look like his normal self during the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat.
Now we know why.
The Athletic’s Jared Weiss reported Wednesday night that Brogdon “has been playing through a partial tear in the tendon coming out of his right elbow that leads into his forearm.”
Tomase: Celtics’ own version of ‘Heat Culture’ means series isn’t over
Weiss also reports that this injury occurred in Game 1 of the conference finals, which the Celtics lost 123-116 at TD Garden. In addition, Weiss reports Brogdon “was initially dealing with golfer’s elbow soreness during the second-round series against Philadelphia, but an MRI after Game 1 against the Heat determined he exacerbated the injury by tearing the tendon in boxing out Miami Heat big Kevin Love midway through the first quarter.”
It’s admirable that Brogdon is fighting through this injury to try to help his teammates accomplish their postseason goals, but if he is truly limited in his shooting — it’s a right elbow/forearm injury and he shoots right-handed — then it would probably be wise not to give him a lot of minutes the rest of the playoffs. Giving more playing time to Payton Pritchard or Sam Hauser are two options for the Celtics.
Brogdon is shooting 1-for-10 on 3-point attempts and 5-for-20 on all shots since Game 1 of the conference finals, and he’s 3-for-14 from beyond the arc in the series overall. Brogdon’s defense has also been quite poor over the last two playoff rounds.
The Celtics went down 0-3 in their series against the Heat but won Game 4 on Tuesday night. The conference finals resume Thursday night in Boston, where the C’s face a must-win Game 5 at TD Garden.