Cause of ailment unknown
CLEVELAND -- Sebastian Telfair returned to action last night, just 24 hours after being forced from a game and sent to the hospital after suffering shortness of breath, coughing fits, and chest pain Friday night.
The point guard never had had similar symptoms and never suffered from sports-induced asthma, and does not know what caused an episode of what was diagnosed as a bronchospasm.
Although Telfair had trouble breathing as soon as the game against the Jazz began, he suspected a hard fall may have somehow triggered the episode in the first quarter. He hoped that a cold may be at the bottom of it all.
"I was scared [when it first happened]," Telfair said prior to the Celtics' 94-93 loss to Cleveland. "When the pain got to the point where I couldn't play anymore, I was nervous. I didn't know what was going on. I thought I was having a heart attack for a moment.
"As soon as the jump ball, I had some chest pain. As soon as the game started, I felt fatigue like I was running forever. I continued to play, then the pain got to be too much and I couldn't take any deep breaths at all. I was just taking short breaths . . . I am not on any medication. I think the pain [from the fall] had a lot to do with it.
"[The doctors at New England Baptist] didn't see anything that they could point out that was wrong with me. They said it might have been triggered when I hit the floor and I just got a spasm through my chest from the nerves that wrap around your body."
After undergoing tests, including a CAT scan, Telfair was released late Friday night and joined his teammates for the flight to Cleveland.
"I feel OK," said Telfair. "I came on the first bus to get out there early and see how I felt. I made a couple hard plays to the basket. I felt pretty good. It's just still sore in my back and my lower neck from my fall."
Telfair played 35 minutes last night, contributing 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting.
The Celtics started their fifth different lineup in six games last night, making do without injured Wally Szczerbiak and Theo Ratliff. Coach Doc Rivers decided almost at the last minute to start Telfair, Paul Pierce, Kendrick Perkins, Ryan Gomes, and Delonte West. The Celtics also activated Leon Powe and Allan Ray, although neither got into the game.
"[The season has] not started out the way we wanted," said Rivers.
Szczerbiak was a late scratch, telling Rivers less than an hour before tipoff that a strained right gluteus would keep him from competing. After trying to loosen the muscle during warm-ups, Szczerbiak determined that it made no sense to stress the injured area.
Szczerbiak hopes that with treatment and anti-inflammatories, he will be back in action for tomorrow night's home game against Orlando.
"I've been dealing with a little bit of a glute strain for the last three or four games," said Szczerbiak. "It's on the right. It has nothing to do with the knee. The knee is fine. You don't have to open a can of worms as far as that goes.
"I've been just dealing with it and didn't think it was much. [Friday] it really started to get worse. Halftime they were working on me. I took some painkillers. It felt better after the game, then this morning, it was just really sore. It's one of those things that's a strain, so it just keeps getting worse."
It may take longer for Ratliff to return as he continues to suffer from problems caused by a bulging disk in his lower back. The veteran center did not want to place a timetable on his return.
"I'm not strong enough to continue to play," said Ratliff. "I had a talk with Doc and he said that I didn't look strong enough, that I wasn't able to hold myself up. I need to be out there healthy. I told him I didn't want to have to go through this coming back the first time. But unfortunately, it's happening that way.
"I have to continue to get treatment to strengthen the muscles [around the disk]. I tried to test the waters and see if it would hold up, but it's not happening the way I wanted it to happen."
