Morris frustrated by knee riddle
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
Marcus Morris is still attempting to solve the riddle of the soreness in his left knee — tests and doctors have told him that there is no structural damage — and is now targeting the Celtics’ Christmas Day game against Washington for his return.
The grind of the team’s December schedule considered, all concerned think this might be the best time to give their veteran power forward a chance to overcome the soreness issue once and for all.
“Just looking at the schedule for the rest of this month is really brutal, so just taking it easier this month and then go for the rest of the time,” Morris said. “Go to London (in early January), but we have six days off, so the rest of the months aren’t as hard. Base it around that.
“Feels a lot better actually,” he said. “I’m doing some other things to get it a little bit better than it is.”
Morris said he’s not having surgery, adding, “it’s not tendinitis. I don’t even know. Once I got it better it was feeling really good, and then a few games ago I got a little contusion and that aggravated it a little bit.”
Morris said his condition was complicated after he suffered a contusion heading into the Celtics’ loss in San Antonio on Dec. 8. Prior to this, Morris believes he was starting to play his best basketball.
“I caught a lob in the Phoenix game, I think. That was the first lob I caught all season so that felt really good,” he said. “Once I got (the contusion) it aggravated my knee to the point that the San Antonio game and the game before that I was about 60 percent. It was really bothering me so mentally I had to sit out. I could have played but I didn’t think it was beneficial for the team for me to play with the contusion.”
The result is a lot of frustration for a player who has essentially been injury-free over the course of his previous six seasons.
“I’ve hardly missed any days in five years, so it’s different,” he said. “I really can’t put my finger on why, but it started giving me problems as soon as I got here. It wasn’t like I had an injury and then it was, dang, my knee’s injured. I got here and it started acting up.”
The team’s approach, as a result, is more caution. Including last night’s 107-95 loss to Utah, Morris has missed 15 games this season because of the knee.
Welcome back
Jonas Jerebko happily signed with Utah last summer, even noting that he was always interested in playing for the Jazz. Not surprisingly, the former Celtic fit in almost immediately, again in a reserve role.
“I think for a lot of players, for all of us, sometimes a change of scenery is timely,” said Utah coach Quin Snyder. “And Jonas knew coming in that there may not be a lot of minutes for him at the start. It’s something that he was willing to accept — or live with, but maybe not accept entirely. In a good way. He was going to continue to compete. He kept himself ready. And then when Joe Johnson got hurt there was an opportunity for him to play. For us, his energy and activity have been a boost for us defensively. And then I think his ability to move the ball and to move without the ball have been things that he’s really demonstrated that have helped us.”
He certainly helped the Jazz last night with 17 points.
“Ever since shootaround (yesterday) morning I’ve been ready to play,” he said. “Felt really good to be back in the Garden and to see the fans. Some might have yelled some things, but I love it. I love being back here. There’s a lot of love, a lot of hate, it’s great.”
Summer school
The Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, as well as Utah rookie Donovan Mitchell, have proved the Las Vegas Summer League was a nice springboard.
“Jaylen and Jayson, our emphasis was defensively and what you’re looking for from a shot distribution standpoint in summer league,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “They made great strides. They’re both talented, No. 1. They don’t get too high or too low. Mitchell, looking in from the outside, seems the same way. But it takes a special person to be consistent in this league at such a young age. Obviously we spent a lot of time focused on Jaylen and Jayson, because they were going to be parts of this year’s team.” . . .
Brown (goggles) and Kyrie Irving (mask) have worn protective facial wear thus far this season. Add Daniel Theis, who left for good in the second quarter with a broken nose, to the list. It’s unclear if the Celtics forward was on last night’s flight to Memphis.
“I was told he had a broken nose, so I don’t know anything else,” Stevens said.