Bad Break

Celtics fans won't be seeing much of Delonte West anytime soon. He broke
his right wrist last night against the Nets and will miss "several weeks."

Sadly, last night's story at the Garden was not that the Celtics stormed back in the second half to defeat the pesky New Jersey Nets by a final score of 89-83. Or that Shaquille O' Neal had his coming out game in a Celtics uniform, possibly his best game in years, dominating the paint and leading the Celts with 25 points and 11 boards on 9-10 shooting in nearly 32 minutes. Or that the Celtics finally proved that they can win without Rajon Rondo, who missed his second straight game with a strained hamstring.

Unfortunately, the win is so bittersweet because the Celtics paid a major price for it.  Late in the second quarter, guard Delonte West drove hard to the bucket through traffic and successfully made a layup but landed awkwardly on his way down. Attempting to break his fall, West landed directly and violently onto his right wrist, breaking it instantly. West, known for his toughness, had to be escorted back to the locker room by the training staff. If you were watching the game on Comast SportsNet, like I was, West could be heard screaming out in pain several times. Mike Gorman said what we were all thinking: "that does not look good, at all."

"It's broken for sure," coach Doc Rivers said after the game. "Don't know anything else more than that; a compound fracture most likely. But that's going to be a long time, let's just put it that way."

There you go. When a coach comes out and says that before a player's X-Rays have even been interpreted you know it's bad. Doctors still haven't decided if West will need surgery. What we do know for certain is that he will miss a substantial part of the regular season. Early estimates have West returning in time for the playoffs but even that remains in question.

Overall it seems like Delonte just can't catch a break. He comes back to the team that raised him with a chance to play for a championship, has to sit out the first ten games due to a suspension, then breaks his wrist after appearing in just five games. For a player whose mental state is already fragile, this could be devastating. Worst of all, it was starting to get fun watching him play.