What are the implications of losing Avery Bradley?

[BornReady]

its a major bummer for us
we still can play smart and turner at SG
and we can have either hunter or rozier playing at PG to fill smart's loss of mins at the backup PG spot

tough loss for us as he has been integral to the success of both our defense and offense this season

[chambers]

Time for Crowder, Smart, Turner and IT to pick up the slack.
Marcus can play 40 minutes a game. We'll need to see more Olynyk for spacing.

[j804]

Basically we're done has a slim chance to upset them now well be lucky to win one game.

[playdream]

It's bad news to lose AB cus he has played well lately
But it may also be a chance for our young guys to stand up and prove themselfs

[crimson_stallion]

It hurts us a LOT.

The past 4 games we have played some really terrible basketball, and Avery Bradley has been (by far) the most consistent contribute for us over that stretch.  He's pretty much been THE man keeping us in games when nobody else seemed to be capable of doing anything right.

Today his offence was just as huge as his defence on Teague.  We played so poorly in the first half, and Bradley was basically the only guy who was performing - he pretty much single handedly kept that lead down to the 14-16 point range, and without him the lead would have almost certainly stretched to 25 or worse.  Without Bradley, we probably never would have made a game of it tonight.

Losing him for the series will hurt us in a massive way. 

Firstly, we need to find somebody who can cover Teague. I know people are going to say Smart is the most obvious answer, and that's probably true, but if Smart takes Bradley's SG spot we then have two other problems:

1) Can Smart produce on offence, and keep the D honest with his shooting (as he did today)
2) Do we have somebody we can trust to cover the backup PG spot - can we trust Rozier on the big stage?

The other option is we could start Turner at SG, but if we do that then we really don't have a lot of options for the backup SF spot.  I guess Jerebko could do it, but he can't create offense like Turner does for the second unit.

I get the feeling this injury will create some opportunities for a couple of guys (whoever replaces Bradley as the starting SG, and whoever backs up that guy).  My guess is it will probably be Smart and Rozier taking those minutes.  If so, then I'll be excited to see those young guys get a bit of the spotlight, and to see if they can make an impact on the big stage (as Smart did today).

[crimson_stallion]

luckily guard is one position we have the most depth.  Rozier, Smart now is your time.  Love avery though.  As far as a guy i just root for and want to do well.  Hopefully this lights a spark under the team because I've always felt like avery is the unheralded emotional leader of this thing.  He's been around the longest and is real leader on this team.  I think he personfies what this team is about as far as just playing with grit and that comeback mentality.  Crowder is a real horse as far as grit.  But Avery is that focus and comeback in all of them.

Don't see how you figure that.

Thomas, Bradley, Smart.  Outside of the rookies, that is pretty much our entire guard rotation unless you count Turner as a guard (he tends to back up Crowder at SF). 

I really like Rozier and think he has huge upside, but he's still very inexperienced and I'm not sure if he is ready yet to contribute under this kind of spotlight.

I guess we might have to find out.

[Drucci]

If he is out for this series - and unfortunately I think that's the case - we are doomed. On the bright side, it would give a lot more minutes to Smart (and maybe Rozier) who would gain in experience and learning from this "opportunity".

[iadera]

Smart hit some important threes in 4th. That's what he'll have to do in every next game.

[TA9]

We are going to get swept if Avery doesn't get ready.
I can't see who is going to pick up the scoring punch that Avery delivers every night. Marcus could probably compensate on the defensive end, but he is very inconsistent offensively. Lets pray that Avery is only going to sit out one game.

[Drucci]

We are going to get swept if Avery doesn't get ready.
I can't see who is going to pick up the scoring punch that Avery delivers every night. Marcus could probably compensate on the defensive end, but he is very inconsistent offensively. Lets pray that Avery is only going to sit out one game.

Terry Rozier will probably get a chance to play. Knowing his mentality, I think he can really make an impact, especially on defense against Teague.

[Hank Finkel]

At some point we are going to have to figure out how to win a playoff game regardless of who plays.  Currently 0-5 in the Stevens era. 

[hwangjini_1]

Guess they'll have to play Jordan Mickey now...

not sure how mickey would provide 3 point shooting and perimeter defense to replace that lost by bradley. 

[GreenWarrior]

honestly would not be surprised if we don't win a playoff game as currently constituted. and Stevens and Ainge will both be accountable.

Stevens for encouraging this team to settle for jumpers and Ainge for not providing actual shooters. although something tells me Ainge probably didn't expect this many jump shots being taken.

as for losing Bradley, we didn't have much of a chance with him so I don't expect much of a difference without him. however this team has a propensity for playing inspired ball when the time calls for it. so I could see 'em pulling one out - Atl in 4 or 5.

[hpantazo]

honestly would not be surprised if we don't win a playoff game as currently constituted. and Stevens and Ainge will both be accountable.

Stevens for encouraging this team to settle for jumpers and Ainge for not providing actual shooters. although something tells me Ainge probably didn't expect this many jump shots being taken.

as for losing Bradley, we didn't have much of a chance with him so I don't expect much of a difference without him. however this team has a propensity for playing inspired ball when the time calls for it. so I could see 'em pulling one out - Atl in 4 or 5.

How do you come to this conclusion after we lost by only 1 point on the road after shooting uncharacteristically poor percentage, getting no foul calls, and losing one of our key players down the stretch?

[Evantime34]

Turner probably starts, although I wouldn't be surprised is Stevens started the game small and started building Thomas, Smart, Turner, Crowder and Amir.

if he goes small I think we will see Rozier and/or Hunter get some time. If Kelly plays aggressive I think he could buy us some time with two big lineups but in general I expect us to go small a lot which means even more minutes from Smart, Turner and It.