Jeff Green’s recovery progresses but still out Saturday

Jeff Green is supposed to have his plantar fascia strain re-evaluated Sunday, but until late Friday, he hadn’t officially been ruled out of Saturday’s game either. The Nets aren’t saying anything specific about Green’s recovery but will say he’s progressing.

“Really just monitoring him. We’ll see. Keep monitoring it day-to-day and see if he’s ready to go,” Steve Nash said. “He’s definitely progressing but we can’t commit either way if he’s available or not available for Saturday.”

Green was on the Nets trip to Boston first in crutches and walking boot. But the fact that he didn’t have to stay behind in Brooklyn to rehab was a good sign.

The Nets of course use Green. The 6’8” big supplies 3-and-D capabilty as well as veteran on-court experience. Other than Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, Green is the only other Nets player to reach the NBA Finals.

Meanwhile, Nash defended Blake Griffin from critics who suggest the Celtics were going after him every other play in the first round.

“I don’t say, ‘Blake had a poor series.’ I say, ‘That series wasn’t set up for Blake to fill the box score,’ ” Nash said. “It wasn’t a series that he could have as big an impact as we predicted or the indicators were going into the series.

“It was a tough series for Blake because they were switching everything [on screens],” Nash added. “When they are switching, we’re going to isolate with our Big 3. That leaves him largely spacing the floor. They weren’t coming off him, so they in a sense took him out of the series.”

Griffin will be critical vs. the Bucks who are notoriously big up front. He knows it.

“As long as I do the things that our coaching staff is asking me to do going into the game, then I’m happy. There’s always that thing of, I think I can play better. But winning a first-round series is most important. I’ve never won a first-round series 4-1, so you take what you can get.”

• Nets aren’t yet ruling out Jeff Green playing Game 1 versus Bucks - Brian Lewis - New York Post
• Nets’ Blake Griffin looking to make bigger impact in Round 2 - Ryan Dunleavy - New York Post
• NBA playoff matchups: Brooklyn Nets vs. Milwaukee Bucks - Greg Logan - Newsday
• Bucks-Nets: Predictions, the continuity gap, defending Giannis and Brooklyn’s Big 3 - Alex Schiffer - The Athletic NBA
• The Bucks now have some ‘dogs,’ will it be enough to get past the Nets? - Martenzie Johnson - The Undefeated
• The Bucks Remade Themselves Defensively. But Are They Ready For The Nets? - Louis Zatzman - FiveThirtyEight.com
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