ORLANDO, Fla. - His body of work somewhat short, Celtics rookie guard Lester Hudson flew back to Boston after breaking the ring finger on his left hand during last night's summer league game against Oklahoma City. According to his agent, Lance Young, Hudson has been told he may need surgery to have a pin put in the finger. This presents a difficult situation for Hudson, who has not signed a contract.
``It's very tough because I want to show Danny (Ainge) and the coaches what I can do,'' said Hudson. ``But I won't be out there to do it now. I think I can still play right now, but I have to sit back.'' Hudson lasted on the floor for only 3:42 before slipping and breaking his fall with his left hand.
``That's when I broke it,'' said Hudson, who still managed to impress the coaching staff over his first two games, especially as a defender.
``I thought he did well,'' said Celtics assistant Mike Longabardi, who is running the summer league team. ``There are definitely corrections that need to be made in his game, but he's only had five days in the NBA so far.
``I thought that for those five days there was really something there,'' he said. ``I really loved his juice.''
Old friends
Doc Rivers acknowledged last night that he has met with free agent and Winter Park neighbor Grant Hill several times, ``but that's not a big deal, because sometimes we go out to dinner. We have a relationship. I didn't see him play a lot when I had him, but I knew that he would come back.''
The Celtics , who are limited to offering the $1.9 biannual exception, are on hold while Hill decides whether he likes the more financially promising situations in New York and Phoenix.
Early injuries
With Mike Sweetney still out with a sore hamstring, injuries continue to hit the Celts hard.
Fingers were the theme last night. In addition to Hudson, J.R. Giddens dislocated the pinkie on his left hand. Giddens, however, will stay and plans to play in tonight's game against Indiana. He was scheduled to have an X-ray taken of the finger this morning.
``I know I dislocated it, at least, because I pulled it out myself,'' he said, looking at the slightly jagged finger. ``But I can still play. Shoot, I'll be able to rest it all summer, man. I'm not sitting out.''
Giddens was more distressed by another development.
``Damn, I had six turnovers,'' he said. ``I was very average tonight.''
Just the fax
The Celtics took care of formalities yesterday with the signing of Rasheed Wallace. Another formality - the faxing of the contract to the league office for approval - must have left Magic officials with a chafing feeling, considering that they, too, had been interested in Wallace.
Bill Strickland, Wallace's agent, was on hand last night, and as a result had the contract faxed by an Orlando staff member on the Magic's fax machine. . . .
Rivers liked what he saw of Kevin Garnett last week during their meeting with Wallace.
``He looks great,'' he said. ``I told him it's good to see him walking normal again.'' . . .
Rivers, after playing a round of golf on Bethpage Black, the U.S. Open course in New York, summed up the experience with one word: ``Long.''
Asked about the result, he said, ``No scores. We're not doing that.''
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