Glen Davis underwent successful surgery to repair a broken right thumb suffered in an altercation with a former LSU teammate. The Celtics head coach wouldn't confirm a specific timetable for his return, but pegged it in the 4-to-8 week range.
Speaking prior to Tuesday night's season opener against the Cavaliers in Cleveland, Rivers expressed his frustration with the situation.
"I'm very disappointed, obviously," said Rivers. "It just puts everybody in a bad way in that way and obviously the timing of it wasn't great, but I don't know that there is a good timing for that."
The Celtics will lean heavily on their bench without Davis — specifically, newcomer Sheldon Williams. But Rivers didn't shy away from considering the potentially damaging long-term effect of Davis's injury. Instead of limiting minutes for aging veterans like Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace, the head coach will likely be forced to use them for longer periods far earlier than he is comfortable with.
"The one thing we didn't want to have to do this early in the year is extend minutes to Kevin or Rasheed," acknowledged Rivers. "If this injury did anything, it may throw some of those plans out a little bit."
The team indicated that Davis could be suspended, though Rivers did not comment on the length of a suspension.
"Baby's not a bad person. He made a bad mistake, he made a bad judgment and unfortunately it only takes one second to make a mistake," said Rivers. "Right now he has to live with his mistake. But he's not a bad kid. He's growing, he's maturing and obviously he has some ways to go."
