The Boston Celtics' latest injury report for Friday night's showdown with the first-place Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden includes several players, but one in particular stands out.
Veteran guard Jrue Holiday has been ruled out with a "mallet finger" injury on his shooting hand. It's unknown if this injury will result in Holiday missing an extended amount of time, but it doesn't sound like a pleasant ailment.
What is mallet finger? Here is the Cleveland Clinic's definition:
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"Mallet finger is an injury to the tip of your finger that causes it to droop downward, making your finger look like a mallet. It happens when you injure the extensor tendon that extends the tip of your finger (terminal extensor). If this tendon gets torn, cut or displaced, it won’t be able to pull your finger joint straight.
"Mallet finger is a common sports injury, especially among baseball players. (Its other name is baseball finger.) It can happen when something hard hits your extended fingertip, like a flying ball that you’re trying to catch. You may also get it by accidentally striking your fingertip or getting it caught in a door."
Here's another explanation from NBA injury analyst Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes:
"Mallet finger is an injury to the tendon that helps straighten the DIP joint (finger tip). Players have played with the injury while others have needed surgery. It often depends on the severity of tendon damage (and) the involved digit."
Before Friday's game, C's coach Joe Mazzulla said Holiday is "day-to-day, just managing the pain."
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Lu Dort played through a mallet finger injury earlier this season. He wore a splint on the injured finger, and it sounds like the injury definitely impacted him.
"It was just hard for me to shoot," Dort told Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman for a story published Dec. 5. "That was the main thing. I felt like I got off to a great start on that side of the floor. And it was just hard for me to shoot the ball with four fingers, basically."
The Celtics haven't said when the injury occured, but it wouldn't be surprising if it was bothering Holiday in Wednesday's loss to the Detroit Pistons. Holiday shot 2-for-10 (0-for-5 from 3-point range) in 31 minutes as the Celtics lost 117-97.
Holiday has played in 47 of Boston's 59 games so far this season. The 34-year-old guard is averaging 10.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, while shooting 34.2 percent from 3-point range (his lowest percentage since 2018-19).
This injury comes at a time when the Celtics have some tough games on their schedule. The C's play the Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers and Thunder over the next 12 days.
