Avery Bradley told Mike Gorman that he could be back against Atlanta

The Celtics got smoked last night.

One reason why was that no one could shoot. The lack of shooting was at least partially due to the fact that Atlanta contested just about every shot the Celtics took and had roughly a million blocks. And the absence of Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk clearly had an impact as well. Could Bradley, who suffered a severe right hamstring strain in Game 1, possibly be back before the end of the Hawks series? He seems to think so.

Mike Gorman just told us that Avery Bradley told him last night he feels good enough to possibly be back in time to play in this series.

— Toucher and Rich (@Toucherandrich) April 20, 2016

Masslive's Jay King notes the notoriously optimistic Bradley might not be the most reliable source for an objective view of his injury status. Brad Stevens did all but rule him out for the series, and you have to think that if there was a chance of a return, the Celtics would downplay the injury a bit.

But after last night's debacle, let's hold on to the hope that Bradley might return in time to make a difference in this first round series with the Atlanta Hawks.


Photo Credit Erik Lesser EPA