Daniels Eyeing February Return

Boston Globe

A week after undergoing surgery on his left wrist, Marquis Daniels went in yesterday for an evaluation and to have stitches removed from his hand. He learned that the best-case scenario is a return to the court just before the All-Star break.

Daniels said he is scheduled to see doctors again Jan. 8 to have the cast, as well as the pin in his wrist, removed. From that point, he would wear a smaller cast.

“It don’t hurt as bad,’’ he said. “Actually, initially, just keeping your hand up. They say if you leave it down, it swells up on you. Trying to sleep like this is not good.’’

The injury had lingered for three weeks, but Daniels tried to play through it. “It was feeling good at times,’’ he said. “Then, I’d get a bad pass.’’

He said the injury took its toll on almost every facet of his game. “Getting ready to shoot,” he said. “Gathering the ball, dribbling, getting rebounds, playing defense. Then, mentally. Coach Doc Rivers, who ultimately had to pull Daniels from practice and suggest that he get the wrist examined, said the more Daniels tried to mask his injury, the more obvious it became.

“I mean it was so obvious,’’ Rivers said. “We had just had a coaches meeting talking about [how] he’s losing the ball a lot. ‘Do you think it’s his hand?’ And then I’m watching him practice after that and it was just so obvious.

“You could see it in practice. He couldn’t even hold on to the ball. It’s funny he was hiding it trying to rebound with one hand. You could see him on film passing with the opposite hand more. So eventually, even I would have noticed.’’

“It’s funny. I don’t know if I hadn’t have blown the whistle and told him to walk off the court, he may still be playing.’’

Let's hope he doesn't rush back. Marquis wasn't the same player after he hurt the wrist. Let's also hope Daniels remains healthy for the rest of the season and playoffs. The injury bug has been a chronic obstacle for him throughout his career. In the preseason and early in the season you could see how valuable a healthy Marquis was to the C's 2nd unit. This wrist busines explains why Doc and Danny kept on saying Daniels could bring the ball up and House could play the 2, but House was still playing the 1. Right now, when Rondo goes out, so does our offense. A healthy Daniels could remedy that problem.