Getty Joe Mazzulla, Marcus Smart, Boston Celtics
On Thursday, April 27, the Boston Celtics closed out their series against the Atlanta Hawks, progressing onto the second round of the playoffs as a result.
As the Celtics players sat in the locker room following the game, head coach Joe Mazzulla shared a fiery message with Marcus Smart, praising his performance and crediting the impact he had on the game.
feels good to close it out ☘️
“That’s the f—ing Marcus Smart we know and want,” Mazzulla said. “When you’re that, we’re great.”
Joel Embiid Unlikely to Play in Series Opener
The Celtics and Sixers are two teams that know each other extremely well, residing in the same conference and doing battle on countless occasions throughout their illustrious histories and during their current eras of Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum.
According to Sixers head coach Doc Rivers, Embiid is unlikely to participate in the series opener between the two rivals as he continues to recover from an LCL sprain.
Joel Embiid’s status for Game 1 is doubtful according to Doc Rivers
“There is no latest,” Rivers said. “Obviously, doctors looked at him, and he didn’t do anything today. I’ll say this, if I was a betting man, I would say [he’s] doubtful for at least game one, but we’ll see…We know nothing yet…Obviously, we were hopeful for today.”
Joel Embiid Has Undergone PRP Treatment
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, who was speaking on a May 1 episode of FanDuel TV’s Run It Back, Embiid has recently undergone a plasma-rich platelet treatment in the hopes of speeding up his recovery so that he can take part in the series against Boston.
From Run It Back on @FanDuelTV: The latest surrounding 76ers star Joel Embiid, who, sources say, underwent platelet-rich plasma treatment on his injured knee as part of his recovery process:
“He is doubtful right now. Everything with Joel Embiid is fluid; he’s a warrior, it’s playoff time. I’m told he did have PRP treatment last week in that knee,” Charania said. “He participated in parts of practice on Sunday, which is a good step. But he has a pretty serious LCL sprain that he was diagnosed with on April 21. It was more than a grade 1 LCL ligament sprain. So, he’s done some shooting on the floor the past few days…there’s some thought around this team that it would be a miracle if he ended up showing up tonight on the floor.”
Celtics fans may remember that Robert Williams underwent similar treatment earlier in the season as he continued to recover from a second surgery on his knee following a meniscus tear toward the end of the 2021-22 season.
The Celtics and Sixers will face off in the opening game of their second-round series on Monday, May 1.