BOSTON — Malcolm Brogdon has been playing through a partial tear in the tendon coming out of his right elbow that leads into his forearm, team sources told The Athletic.
Brogdon suffered the injury in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, according to the sources, who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record. The Celtics guard was initially dealing with golfer’s elbow soreness during the second-round series against Philadelphia, but an MRI after Game 1 against the Heat determined he exacerbated the injury by tearing the tendon in boxing out Miami Heat big Kevin Love midway through the first quarter.
The Sixth Man of the Year has struggled with pain and swelling in his arm and wrist, which has limited his ability to shoot comfortably in this series. After making 44.4 percent from 3 in the regular season, Brogdon is 3 of 14 from deep in the first four games of the conference finals and has resorted to driving the ball more and curtailing his pregame warmup routine to mitigate the significant soreness in his wrist and arm caused by shooting.
Brogdon, 30, intends to continue playing through the injury as the Celtics attempt to come back from an 0-3 deficit after winning Game 4 116-99 on Tuesday. He is expected to evaluate whether he will need surgery after the season, according to team sources.
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