The short-handed Celtics played the Bucks on Thursday with the 2-seed on the line and both Jayson Tatum and Al Horford on the bench, and they very nearly pulled off a win.
“And Rob,” Ime Udoka said, smiling slightly when a reporter asked him about being short-handed without Tatum and Horford.
Yes, Rob too.
So perhaps the Celtics can be excused if they don’t take Thursday’s result too hard. Without three of their starters, they leaned heavily on Jaylen Brown (more on him in a minute), Marcus Smart, and an unusual cast of role players.