It's been two weeks since Boston Celtics center Nikola Vucevic suffered a right ring finger fracture during his team's game against the Dallas Mavericks.
Vucevic underwent surgery on March 7, and the Celtics announced at the time that the two-time All-Star would be reevaluated in three-to-four weeks.
The trade deadline acquisition addressed his status on Friday night.
"The good thing is I can still do some stuff on the court," Vucevic said, per The Boston Globe's Gary Washburn. "That will help me for when I come back (to be in) shape, and hopefully I get a couple games before the playoffs, get back in rhythm with the guys that week between regular season and playoffs, everything going as smoothly as possible."
Vucevic landed with Boston on Feb. 5 in a deal that sent guard Anfernee Simons to the Chicago Bulls.
The 35-year-old came off the bench in 11 of his first 12 games with the Celtics before the injury, averaging 10.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 21.7 minutes per contest.
Vucevic revealed what's been the most difficult part of his injury.
"Obviously, the hardest part is that you don’t get to play while the team does," the big man said, according to Washburn. "It’s been good to be around the guys. I miss being on the court and competing and the toughest part about athletes is when you’re injured, you have to miss extended time."
Vucevic did also mention some good news related to the situation though.
"So far I haven’t had much pain or anything; everything has been going well," he said, per Washburn's report. "The swelling is coming down and been working the range of motion. So hopefully the X-ray is clean at three weeks and I can start doing some stuff and just getting back to being comfortable and building strength in the hand."
The Detroit Pistons (51-19) are trying to hold off Boston (47-23) at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, as both teams have 12 games left in the regular season and the former deals with the aftermath of All-Star guard Cade Cunningham's collapsed lung.
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