NBA playoffs: Celtics Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon out for Game 6 vs. Heat
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If the Boston Celtics are going to force an Eastern Conference finals Game 7 and a chance at history, they’ll have to do it without Malcolm Brogdon.
The 2022-23 NBA Sixth Man of the Year was ruled out Saturday, hours before Game 6, with what the team called a right forearm strain. He had initially been considered questionable for the must-win game.
Brogdon’s injury might be more serious than a simple forearm strain, though, as The Athletic’s Jared Weiss reported earlier this week the guard has been playing through a partial tear in his arm where the elbow meets the forearm.
Brogdon reportedly tore the tendon in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, though he was previously dealing with golfer’s elbow soreness in the Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
That injury was clearly hampering Brogdon before Saturday, as he had scored only 2 points total on 1-of-13 shooting in Games 3, 4 and 5 while averaging 14.3 minutes per game. In 67 regular season games, Brogdon averaged 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 48.4% from the field and a career-high 44.4% from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, the Heat will enter Game 6 with a boost when it comes to health.
After missing the Heat’s Game 5 loss Thursday with a left ankle injury, starting guard Gabe Vincent is starting after being cleared to play Saturday.
The Heat remain up 3-2 in the series, but have dropped two straight after taking a 3-0 lead. No NBA team has ever come back from down 3-0, though Boston certainly has positive experience in that area thanks to the 2004 Boston Red Sox.