INJURT REPORT - Celtics’ Marcus Thornton will miss a few weeks with calf injury & OTHER CELTICS UPDATE

BOSTON GLOBE

By Gary WashburnGLOBE STAFF DECEMBER 16, 2014

PHILADELPHIA — A few days ago, the Celtics were loaded at the small forward/shooting guard spots and coach Brad Stevens was unable to find time for rookie James Young.

Fast forward to Monday, and Stevens was sitting against the wall outside of his office at the Wells Fargo Center wondering about rotations with three players unavailable for the matchup with the 76ers.

Stevens learned that swingman Marcus Thornton, the team’s most effective scorer off the bench, would miss “a couple of weeks” with a partially torn calf muscle sustained during Sunday’s practice. Thornton is averaging 8.2 points in just 15.4 minutes this season and is shooting a team-leading 42.3 percent from the 3-point line.

Marcus Smart (Achilles’ strain) could be back for Wednesday’s game against Orlando, but Young is out for a few weeks with a subluxation of his right shoulder.

“That’s unfortunate for [Thornton], unfortunate for us,” Stevens said before the Celtics’ 105-87 win. “I knew that when he hurt it, he was hurting. I’ve seen things a lot worse than that and I’m actually encouraged by [only missing a couple of weeks]. I didn’t think it was just a small strain that would be a day-to-day thing. I’m happy that it’s not longer than that. Obviously with the muscle, we’ll be a lot more careful in making sure he’s right before he comes back.”

Thornton was apparently participating in a shooting drill when he felt a sudden strain in his left calf.

“He’s been playing well,” Stevens said. “That’s somebody we’re going to have to make up for. We have to find different ways of being effective offensively throughout our second unit.

Young was injured in a NBADL game with Maine last week.

The Celtics had just 11 healthy players for Monday night’s game.

“He would obviously have a great chance to play with only 11 bodies out there,” Stevens said of Young.

Stevens used all 11 players and 10 played at least a dozen minutes, including veteran Gerald Wallace, who got the call in the first quarter. Wallace didn’t attempt a shot in 12 minutes but had two steals and a block.

“Gerald’s [top] qualities are effort and physicality,” Stevens said. “So it certainly helps. He was good.”

Stevens said center Vitor Faverani, who tore his left meniscus Feb. 4, is a month away from practice. Faverani had surgery in March to repair the meniscus and another procedure in October to reduce swelling.

Faverani was projected to return in six weeks following the October procedure but his rehabilitation has gone much slower than expected.

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