Terry Rozier initially tried to play through knee injury

Knee injuries aren't good. Lying about knee injuries isn't good. But with the depth in the Celtics' rotation these days, can you blame Terry Rozier for not raising his hand when a tweak in his knee swelled up on the team's European excursion? According to a report be ESPN's Chris Forsberg, the guard will miss both preseason games this week in New York.

Rozier, the 16th overall pick in June's draft, said he initially tweaked the knee near the start of training camp chasing a loose ball. He didn't tell the team's medical staff, believing the injury to be minor, but swelling became an issue overseas.

"I thought I could just get through it. But lesson learned from that," Rozier said. "But it's nothing serious. It just has me off my feet right now."

Glass half full approach: it's not a serious injury and is unrelated to his previous knee injury. Glass half empty approach: this is what happened to James Young last year. More Forsberg:

Last season, then-rookie James Young tweaked his hamstring before his preseason debut and played through the pain. He ended up missing most of the exhibition season. Stevens stressed Monday -- as he did with Young last year -- that players have to trust the medical staff, though he didn't sound overly concerned about Rozier's injury.

James Young, while still the youngest member of the Celtics and someone with loads of potential, is not the person rookies want to take the same tract as while starting their NBA career. Missing those reps in preseason saw Young badly out of rhythm on offense and lost on defense. By the time he was at full strength, he was out of the rotation and shipped up to the Red Claws to get game action.

Rozier has looked more comfortable than Young did last year, and his frame seems more NBA ready than the lanky Young. Celtics fans are hoping for better rookie returns from the first year man out of Louisville and will be looking for him to be suiting up in the green and white for next week's preseason tilts against the Nets and Knicks at the TD Garden.


Photo Credit AP/Rick Bowmer