While there was plenty of worry about Jayson Tatum’s eye, he seems to be ready to play the rest of the series for the Boston Celtics. Kemba Walker, however, is more of a maybe.

Coach Brad Stevens said Tatum practiced Thursday and he “feels good” ahead of the Friday’s Game 3 against the Brooklyn Nets at 8:30 p.m. The Nets lead the series 2-0 as it shifts back to Boston.

Tatum’s availability is a huge boost for the Celtics, still searching for their first win of the first-round series. But it wasn’t all good news with Walker questionable because of a bone bruise in his left knee.

Tatum suffered his injury early in the third quarter of Tuesday’s blowout loss to the Nets. He was fighting for the ball with Kevin Durant, and while he ripped the ball away, he was poked in the right eye during the frenzy. Tatum immediately stumbled over and grabbed at his face. Tatum returned to the bench later in the quarter but was unable to adjust to the lights and was deemed out for the rest of the game.

Tatum has struggled against the Nets, who are loading up on stopping the two-time All-Star. He’s shooting just 28.1% for the series while averaging 15.5 points per game. It’s part of the struggles of missing Jaylen Brown, who’s out for the season after wrist surgery to repair a torn ligament.

AN UGLY 130-108 blowout loss in Game 2 sent Boston Coach Brad Stevens and his coaching staff to the film to try to find a way to keep his undermanned roster competitive with the NBA title favorites.

“I think the most important thing is, we’re down 2-0,” Stevens said Thursday. “Tomorrow is important, tomorrow the edge, the pride and the competitiveness and everything needs to be at its best level. I feel good about things we’ve done in each of these games, but Game 1 (a 104-93 Brooklyn win) was more representative of how we have to play to be successful. We have to be much more physical, we have to be better defensively. Hopefully we can attack better as these games go on. But edge, competitive level is a huge, huge part of the weekend.”

ROBERT WILLIAMS, the third-year reserve center, has been limited with his playing time over the first two games of the series due to turf toe, but he was not listed on the injury report by the team on Thursday afternoon, a sign perhaps that the injury is becoming less of a limitation.

With no minutes cap in place, it’s possible Williams could slot back into the starting five in the middle to provide a boost in the paint on both ends of the floor.

“The wild card for us is how much can Rob go, and how long can Rob go,” Stevens explained. “And that’s really a day of game, how does he feel type thing.”

Williams played 22 minutes in Game 1 and just 16 minutes in Game 2 due to the game being a blowout in the second half. Two days of added rest could help the Celtics get closer to 25-30 minutes for him in a must-win situation for the team.
Other adjustments on the roster for Boston could include a tweak to the bench rotation to increase the team’s size on the perimeter.

Grant Williams and Semi Ojeleye played sparingly in the first two games of the series so they may be candidates along with Romeo Langford for more minutes in the rotation in Game 3 if Stevens elects to go bigger with his rotation.

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