So how bad is Vince Carter’s sprained right ankle, and will he play tomorrow?
“I hope so,” Carter said optimistically. “Ankles are nothing to play with. I’ve been there before and I’ve been fortunate to bounce right back. We’ll see what happens.”
X-rays taken at the Meadowlands last night were negative. Carter is to be re-evaluated today, likely with an MRI. After that, no one knows.
“I don’t think he’ll even miss a game. We have off tomorrow. He’ll get treatment all day. Stay off it so we got a good 48 hours before we have to play,” said Richard Jefferson, offering the optimistic view.
And for the pessimists out there, here’s Darrell Armstrong.
“Hopefully he won’t miss time, but it looked like he might miss 2-3 games, maybe more than that,” said Armstrong. “You just wish him the best and hope he gets back as quickly as possible.”
What made Armstrong so gloomy?
“The way he was walking. But you never know. Everybody has a different pain tolerance,” Armstrong said.
Carter seemed to side with the rosy view. “It was just sore. I felt it all the way across the ankle at first and now it’s just one side of it, so that’s a good thing I guess,” he said. “We’ll see how it feels tomorrow and just go from there.”
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Nets rookie Sean Williams had a personal-best 10 points plus four rebounds in 11 minutes. Armstrong had a season-high 10 points.
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Celtics were without James Posey (back spasms) and ex-Net Brian Scalabrine (concussion). Scalabrine caught an elbow Friday night and stayed overnight at New England Baptist Hospital for observation and was released yesterday. Celts hope to have both Tuesday.