Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens revealed that Rajon Rondo might recover from a hand injury in time for their first game of the 2014-15 NBA season.
Stevens said in an interview that Rondo, who recently underwent surgery to repair a metacarpal fracture in his left hand, was re-evaluated with results showing that the superstar playmaker is recovering well.
"He had a scan on his hand and he's progressing great," Stevens said via ESPN. "He obviously won't do any contact before the end of the week, but there's a chance that he could be cleared to do some stuff by the end of the week."
Rondo underwent surgery three weeks ago and the team ruled him out for six to eight weeks, but Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said that their starting point guard is very eager to return to action.
But when asked about the possibility of playing against the Brooklyn Nets in their season opener on Oct. 29, Rondo sounded like he is unsure yet, saying that he wants to make sure that his hand is fine before returning to action.
"I don't know. I still haven't had any contact yet," Rondo said. "The opener is a little bit over a week away. I don't want to set goals; I just want to go as my hand heals."
Once Rondo is cleared for contact, reports indicated that a return timetable will be set depending on how comfortable the 28-year-old will be. The eight-year veteran said that he is comfortable when dribbling and catching the ball, but he still wants to gauge it in a contact practice.
"It doesn't bother me at all when I dribble the ball, catch the ball," Rondo added. "But it's night and day from trying to brace myself hitting the floor or going into the lane and somebody smacks my hand."
Rondo averaged 11.7 points to go along with 9.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds last season, but only played in 30 games as he was rested in several games for precautionary reasons coming off an ACL reconstruction surgery.
