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Robb: Evan Turner's Emergence Could Mean Less Playing Time For Jeff Green

BOSTON – In a preseason full of bad injury news for the Celtics, the team finally saw a positive development Wednesday night as Jeff Green showed no ill effects of a sprained left calf in his season debut against the Raptors.

The durable small forward sat out the first four games of the preseason with the ailment, but returned to practice this week with just enough time to get himself into true game shape before the regular season begins on October 30.

Green's usual spot in the starting lineup was waiting for him against Toronto, but understandably the veteran wasn't in peak form over 31 minutes of action. The 28-year-old showed plenty of rust in his play, posting nine points on 3-of-12 shooting from the field.

Green's rust was particularly apparent with his shooting touch, from both the 3-point line (1-of-5) and uncharacteristically at the free throw line (2-of-6) as well. Some of those struggles could be blamed on a violent poke in the eye Green received from Amir Johnson that forced him to miss a few minutes of action at the end of the first half.

Luckily, after the game, Green told reporters that he was feeling no lingering effects from the incident.

"I'm good.  I can see.  Just got real, real blurry when I got hit.  But I'm good now and saw the doc, got some drops.  Took about 15-20 minutes for it to clear it, but I'm straight," Green said.

The veteran also spoke about his excitement to in returning to the floor for game action.

"It feels good to be back on that floor," Green explained. "I was over-anxious, just happy to be out there, moving too fast. Was dead tired, but it's going to take a couple games to get my legs up under me. But once I get my game legs, I'll be good to go."

Partly thanks to Green's poor shooting outing on the night, the Celtics' offensive showing was a bit lackluster for much of the contest. Boston received a spark off the bench from Tyler Zeller (13 points) and Marcus Thornton (17 points), which led to a late comeback, but that fell short. For most of the night, the Celtics usual ball movement wasn't there, especially when Green was on the floor, as the forward appeared focused on getting comfortable with his own offense.

"I didn't want to blend in; I wanted to stand out," Green told reporters postgame. "I just wanted to get out there and play.  I felt like our defense was pretty good; they got too many points, too many easy baskets in transition.  We take that away . . . we win this game.  But you know, I was just happy to be out there, helping my team out, make some shots next game and go from there."

Brad Stevens noted that the team would need to get Green comfortable within the team's offensive scheme over the next couple weeks.

"I thought he was fine, physically. …As far as in the rhythm of the offense, it was his first game. So we need to get him back and I'm glad he gets a couple exhibition games to get back."

With the emergence of Evan Turner this preseason, Stevens could be left with a tough decision once Rajon Rondo returns to the floor, when it comes to Green's minutes. Green will likely keep his starting job when Rondo's back, but if the Celtics offense looks better with Turner on the floor, it's going to be hard to justify playing Green major minutes over him at the wing.

Backcourt minutes between Rondo, Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart will be tough to come by as well, so chances are Turner will play a good amount at the wing if he continues to excel on both ends of the floor.

With this scenario looming, Green needs to get back into prime offensive form in a hurry, or he might watching from the bench a bit more than he would like this season.

Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.

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