The Boston Celtics hold the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference but the Charlotte Hornets and Indiana Pacers are fighting to get to the playoffs trailing the Celtics by 1.5 and 2 games respectively. Wednesday night was a big match between the Celtics and Pacers. Boston had a scare when they almost lost their 7-footer Kelly Olynyk, but he fought through a gruesome black eye and came through big for the team.
Olynynk took an accidental elbow to face during Boston’s shootaround on Wednesday morning from teammate Shavlik Randolph.
“We were doing our normal pregame drills. We were playing 1-on-1,” Randolph explained to Boston.com. “He got me on a pump fake and just jumped into my arm. I’m surprised he got up. He got hit pretty hard.”
Olynyk’s eye began to swell up and change colors. The team ruled him as doubtful prior to the tip but after some pregame shooting, the resilient big man declared himself ready to go.
It proved to be a great decision as he was a big help scoring a team-high 19 points, going 7-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from 3-point range during the Celtics crucial 100-87 win over the Pacers.
*photos in gallery above*
