Evan Turner Out Wednesday Vs. Pelicans
BOSTON (CBS) -- An eye injury will keep Evan Turner out of the Celtics lineup Wednesday night when they host the New Orleans Pelicans at TD Garden.
Turner is considered day-to-day, though Celtics head coach Brad Stevens hinted that his versatile sixth-man could return to the lineup on Friday when Boston hosts the Milwaukee Bucks.
"Evan is good. He's at home," Stevens said before Tuesday's practice. "He's not going to play [Wednesday], but he should be day-to-day after that. The ophthalmologist saw him [Monday] and, obviously, if he were to play [Wednesday], he would probably be a day ahead of schedule and force him to wear goggles, whatever the case may be. We're hopeful that he can be feeling pretty good by Friday.
"I think giving him that extra two days is a probably a good thing anyway," said Stevens, noting there was no retina damage in the eye.
The C's forward suffered a left eye abrasion in the closing seconds of Sunday night's win over the Los Angeles Lakers when he was hit by Julius Randle as the two fought for a loose ball.
Turner has been a big contributor for the Celtics off the bench this season, and is one of Stevens' best two-way players. He's been a calming force on the defensive end and has hit some big shots in the Boston second unit, averaging 10.5 points per game on 46 percent shooting to go with 4.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists per contest.
The Celtics currently sit in the fourth-seed in the Eastern Conference with five games left, including key matchups against the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat.
