The Boston Celtics veteran forward Danilo Gallinari spoke today at practice. Said he’s feeling better, he’s on pace with the recovery timeline, but “still a long way” from returning. He’s weeks away, at least, from 3-on-3, 4-on-4 work. Currently, the goal is to improve the tests for his injured leg, then ramp up.
Gallinari on a return this year: “Playoffs is still in my head. That’s something I’m looking forward to. I don’t know if it’s going to happen or not, but from a motivational standpoint, that’s always something that motivates me more.
“You have to play on 5-on-5, a lot of steps that have to be done before you play an actual game, then maybe even after all those steps, you may not be ready for a playoff game … it’s not easy for anybody, not just body-wise, but mentally … it might happen. We’ll see.
“Maybe you want to push a little more, but at the same time, yes, I’m older, but I’m far from being done with basketball. You don’t want to risk it too much … you still got some years to play… ”
Gallinari tore his ACL in August, now almost seven months ago.
