Everyone connected to the Charlotte Bobcats was extremely relieved by what shooting guard Raja Bell heard about his injured left wrist. A Chicago hand specialist told Bell it was worth trying to rehabilitate the torn ligament in his wrist, rather than commit to surgery that could have cost him four months. Bell injured that wrist in a preseason collision with Utah's Ronnie Brewer Oct. 18. Bell will miss Friday's home opener against the New York Knicks, and at least three or four more games. But if he can play with the pain involved, he'll be cleared for games as soon as a week from now.
Bell has participated in non-contact portions of practice, heavily wrapped in bandages and padding. He can shoot without pain, but passing (which requires him to snap his left wrist) and playing defense (impeding cutters) will be tough.
The plan is for Bell to re-evaluate in a week or two. If he isn't healing sufficiently, Bell might still opt for arthroscopic surgery to explore whether a corrective procedure is needed.
In the meantime, the Bobcats are starting free agent Stephen Graham at shooting guard. Coach Larry Brown loves how rugged and versatile Graham is, and this allows him to play rookie shooting guard Gerald Henderson off the bench and keep D.J. Augustin mainly at point guard.
The rotation would be easier if Flip Murray wasn't also hurt. Murray, a veteran-free agent pickup, can play either guard spot, so it would have been easy for Brown to plug him into most of Bell's minutes.
Murray has a stress reaction in his left shin. He's been cleared to do some shooting, but not to practice, so he figures to be activated roughly the same time Bell is.
CELTICS 92, BOBCATS 59: The Bobcats set a franchise-low for scoring and they were every bit as dysfunctional as that suggests -- 21 turnovers, 31 percent from the field, 0-of-10 from three-point range. You knew this team was bad offensively, but this better be the bottom of the pit.
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