The good news for the Boston Celtics was that Evan Fournier made his return to the lineup on Friday. The bad news was that this return from the league’s Covid-19 protocols couldn’t have gone worse. He missed all seven shots he took against the Brooklyn Nets and then he went scoreless in the 20 minutes he played against the Charlotte Hornets two days later. Both games ended up being Celtics losses. While it’s not fair to criticize Fournier for struggling, he’s still trying to recover from a nasty bout with a serious illness, the Celtics are running out of opportunities to integrate him into the rotation.
"Yeah, he's going to probably, very likely at least, going to struggle, and we just don't have time to practice," head coach Brad Stevens said after Friday’s debacle. "He's got to play, he's got to get himself up to speed.” Obviously, he was hoping that he would acquit himself better in his second game back on Sunday, but that was clearly not the case.
Stevens is correct: there is not much time left for Fournier to get on the same page as his teammates and the Celtics are at the point where they desperately need contributions from wherever they can get them. There are only eleven games left in the Celtics’ regular season, including tonight’s against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Expect Fournier to get more opportunities here, as neither Jayson Tatum or Kemba Walker will be playing thanks to injuries, while big man Robert Williams is questionable.
It’s not just that Fournier has been ill. Immediately after the Celtics acquired him from the Orlando Magic, he missed the first game after the trade deadline (ironically enough, for a false test). Because of all of this missed time, he’s played just six games with the Celtics in total. While he was brought on to immediately impact games with his offense, it would have been foolish to expect him to immediately gel with the rest of the roster given the amount of time that he’s had.
None of this, it should be noted, is Fournier’s fault. He’s done everything right except for, well, getting Covid-19, which certainly seems like something he would have preferred to avoid. If anything, his two poor games have been the response of him attempting to get back on the court too quickly. “I only had two days of practice,” Fournier explained on Friday, “and for me, the most important thing is just being out there. It’s going to be hard, obviously, but I have to fight through it and push through it because for me that’s the only way I’m going feel better at some point.”
The trick right now, of course, is for Fournier to get right without it actively harming the rest of the team. Right now, the Celtics’ main goal, beyond health, should be avoiding having to participate in the play-in tournament, which means finishing no lower than sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Currently, the Celtics are in, well this sure is inconvenient, sixth place. Expect Stevens to give Fournier the chance to work himself back into shape but don’t be surprised if he has to make some hard decisions about playing time in the near future if Fournier has another night or two where he can’t buy a shot.
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April 27, 2021 at 08:00PM
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Evan Fournier Is Running Out Of Time To Make An Impact - Forbes
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