BOSTONFollowing the Boston Celtics' morning shoot-around, Jared Sullinger walked slowly towards the sideline and took a seat next to assistant coach Armond Hill.
"Vitamin C!" Hill told him. "And get some rest!"
Sullinger nodded his head and slowly left the practice court, clearly not himself courtesy of nasty collection of cold-like symptoms that's making the rounds among Celtics players.
Although he was under the weather against Minnesota, his play certainly didn't show it as the Celtics defeated the Timberwolves 104-94.
The contributions to Wednesday night's win came from many, including Sullinger who had seven points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots off the Celtics bench in just under 18 minutes of action.
"I was just trying to give the team all I had," Sullinger said. "You step inside those lines, sickness or injuries and all, whatever, goes out the door. You have no excuses."
Making Sullinger's play even more impressive is that on most nights, his points come on lay-ups and jumpers.
But against the physical Timberwolves, Sullinger got his offense going by getting to the free throw line - a lot.
He had a career-high six free throw attempts, which equalled the number of free throw attempts of Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo who played 25 and 38 minutes, respectively.
"I don't shy away from contact," he said. "I like to create it."
And Doc Rivers likes the way the rookie handled himself on the floor on a night when he knew Sullinger, physically speaking, was not at the top of his game due to illness.
"He came out and played and played great," Rivers said. "I don't know if we'll have him for the next two games. He's not feeling great, I can tell you that. And that makes it even more impressive."
For Rivers, this was just another building block on what has been a rookie season in which Sullinger seems to continue improving.
"He throws his body around," Rivers said. "He's got it; he might as well use it. I just like that he's starting to play with ... his motor's higher. His IQ is already high. So if you put that with a high motor, good things will happen."