{"id":699650,"date":"2026-04-05T14:15:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T14:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/699650\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T14:15:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T14:15:20","slug":"celtics-announce-nikola-vucevic-injury-update-ahead-of-raptors-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/699650\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtics Announce Nikola Vucevic Injury Update Ahead of Raptors Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Boston Celtics<\/a> will host the Toronto Raptors<\/a> on Sunday at TD Garden in a key Eastern Conference matchup as both teams look to solidify their playoff positioning, with Boston aiming to protect its No. 2 seed.<\/p>\n

The Celtics entered the season with tempered expectations, largely due to the absence of star forward Jayson Tatum<\/a>. However, the core of Jaylen Brown<\/a>, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard has exceeded expectations, keeping Boston firmly in the title conversation.<\/p>\n

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Tatum has since returned and is beginning to find his rhythm, highlighted by a triple-double performance against the Miami Heat<\/a> earlier this week. Now, the Celtics are also on the verge of regaining another key piece<\/a> in veteran center Nikola Vucevic.<\/p>\n

\"Nikola<\/p>\n

Nikola Vucevic moves the ball against Oso Ighodaro in the first half at Mortgage Matchup Center.Mark J&period; Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

(Mark J&period; Rebilas-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Vucevic has been sidelined for nearly a month after undergoing surgery<\/a> in early March to stabilize a fracture in his ring finger. He had been listed as out for every game since, but on Saturday, the Celtics upgraded his status to questionable for Sunday\u2019s matchup, signaling that his return could be imminent.<\/p>\n

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That would provide a significant boost for the Celtics, as Vucevic has played an important role since being acquired from the Bulls ahead of the trade deadline in a deal that sent Anfernee Simons to Chicago.<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s going to help us \u2014 we obviously see the impact that he has on us as a player, especially last time we played Miami, he was huge,” head coach Joe\u00a0Mazzulla said a few days ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Before his injury, Vucevic appeared in 12 games for Boston, averaging 10.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists while shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 35.1 percent from three. Earlier in the season with Chicago, the 35-year-old averaged 16.9 points, 9 rebounds, and 3.8 assists, shooting an efficient 50.5 percent from the field and 47.6 percent from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

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Boston\u2019s frontcourt depth had been a concern earlier this season, prompting the midseason move for Vucevic. In his absence, Neemias Queta and Luka Garza have taken on larger roles, but his return would provide a much-needed lift heading into the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The Celtics also made a roster move on Saturday, signing two-way wing Ron Harper Jr. to a new two-year deal, according to ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania<\/a>. The son of former NBA<\/a> player Ron Harper, Harper Jr. has contributed in limited minutes this season, averaging 3.4 points per game while also spending time with Boston\u2019s G League affiliate in Maine.<\/p>\n

Related: Celtics\u2019 Jaylen Brown Sends Message After Achilles Injury<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Apr 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the NBA<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Boston Celtics will host the Toronto Raptors on Sunday at TD Garden in a key Eastern Conference…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3770],"tags":[4329,7,75,920,919,1243,1409,78,77,17915,189,6,4986,3853,11328,405,681,24853,680,476,3820],"class_list":{"0":"post-699650","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-raptors","8":"tag-anfernee-simons","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-bulls","12":"tag-chicago","13":"tag-derrick-white","14":"tag-eastern-conference","15":"tag-jaylen-brown","16":"tag-jayson-tatum","17":"tag-luka-garza","18":"tag-miami-heat","19":"tag-nba","20":"tag-neemias-queta","21":"tag-nikola-vucevic","22":"tag-oso-ighodaro","23":"tag-payton-pritchard","24":"tag-raptors","25":"tag-ron-harper-jr","26":"tag-toronto","27":"tag-toronto-raptors","28":"tag-torontoraptors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116352525683040341","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}