Celtics guard Baylor Scheierman fractured his left thumb in the 148-111 win over the Nets on Friday, but he was active for Sunday’s game against the 76ers despite the injury to his shooting hand.
Scheierman suffered the break with about four minutes left in the first half when he collided with Nets rookie Egor Demin.
“He was running the other way, and I thought he was just going to chase after the ball because it was up in the air, and I think my thumb just kind of went into his chest,” Scheierman said. “Just hurt and looked down and just kind of felt weird and kind of just locked.”
Scheierman taped the finger and finished the game, but X-rays later revealed the fracture. Scheierman said he broke the same thumb during high school, but that injury sidelined him for an extended time because it required surgery.
Get Starting Point
Scheierman, who was expected to wear a splint against the 76ers, said he took some jump shots earlier Sunday and felt he would be able to play.
“We’re kind of just evaluating it as it goes, but I feel good enough to be out there, so that’s how it’s going to be,” Scheierman said. “I’m not going to sit out.”
Scheierman, who is averaging 4.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.1 assists this season, started his eighth consecutive game Sunday.
Nurse takes notice
The Celtics entered Sunday tied with the Nuggets for the league’s No. 1 offense, averaging 120.2 points per 100 possessions. On Friday against Brooklyn, Boston set an NBA record with an 80.8 effective field goal percentage, an advanced metric that places added value on 3-point shots.
The team’s offensive eruptions have caught the eye of 76ers coach Nick Nurse.
“I think it’s very high powered in the fact that they’ve got shooters pretty much up and down the roster,” Nurse said. “Great spacing. They’ve also got a number of guys that can take you off the dribble and if you guard them one on one, they’re going to try to score in any way.
“So, they do a really good job of doing the three things you need to do to have an efficient offense. They get to the foul line, they get to the front of the rim, and they shoot a lot of threes. And they don’t make many mistakes, and even when they do miss, they chase down a lot of the misses with offensive rebounding. So, they do all those things at a really high level.”
Embiid sidelined
76ers star center Joel Embiid missed Sunday’s game because of the oblique strain he suffered during his team’s win over the Heat on Thursday. Embiid is expected to be sidelined for at least three games. Andre Drummond started in his place.
Philadelphia was still without forward Paul George, who is serving his 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.
