Jrue Vacation reveals how he felt in his return from damage in Celtics loss to Knicks

BOSTON — Jrue Vacation served as a vivid spot within the Celtics’ Recreation 1 loss to the Knicks in his return from damage, posting 16 factors on 7-14 taking pictures alongside 6 rebounds and three assists.

That’s significantly encouraging as a result of Vacation missed the ultimate three video games of the Celtics’ first-round sequence towards the Orlando Magic with a proper hamstring pressure he suffered in Recreation 2.

The Celtics dropped the sequence opener, 108-105, and Vacation was the one starter to shoot above 35% from the sphere. The Celtics guard was not on the damage report forward of Recreation 1.

Jrue Vacation excels towards the Knicks

Vacation was primarily chargeable for containing Knicks star Jalen Brunson, holding the All-Star level guard to 29 factors on 9-23 taking pictures. He guarded him full-court in stints and likewise grabbed 5 of the Celtics’ 12 offensive rebounds.

“No points,” Vacation mentioned of taking part in with a hamstring pressure. “Felt fairly contemporary. It was good to be again on the market.”

The Celtics by no means shared precisely when and the way Vacation’s damage occurred, however after Recreation 1, he spoke to reporters for the primary time because the damage occurred.

“I simply made a transfer and sort of pulled it or strained it, and from there, simply relied on my teammates to get by way of the final sequence,” Vacation mentioned.

Vacation mentioned his hamstring held up advantageous in Recreation 1, however that he’ll be keeping track of how its responds to his return to play.

“We’ll see about tonight, after which tomorrow,” Vacation mentioned. “Simply, adrenaline kicked in and [I] had nice power.”

Whereas Jrue Vacation returns, the Celtics lose two rotation gamers within the loss

Kristaps Porzingis (non-COVID sickness) and Sam Hauser (ankle sprain) each left Monday’s sport early. Porzingis left halfway by way of the second quarter, whereas Hauser sprained his ankle on the finish of the third quarter after fouling OG Anunoby on a three-point try. Hauser was strolling on his personal accord after the loss exterior the Celtics locker room.

“KP is massive for us,” Vacation mentioned. “Clearly, he’s a flexible one who can both play within the paint or stretch the ground, protects the rim, protects the paint, blocks pictures. We positively miss him. We’ve at all times had this next-man-up mentality, and till we all know what’s up with KP, we’ll simply need to have the identical mentality.”