Avery Bradley (shoulder) was a surprise scratch for the Boston Celtics against the Los Angeles Lakers, saying he hurt himself on Tuesday against the Charlotte Bobcats. (CSNNE)

“I banged it up and it’s just been hurting me lately,” he told CSNNE.com following the Celtics 88-87 loss. “I really didn’t [decide not to play tonight]. If Doc (Rivers) put me in, he was going to put me in. But I told him I was ready, he knew I was hurting so he was just looking out for me, didn’t want me to injure it anymore.”

Bradley could have been a weapon last night; it would have been like throwing a cheetah into a tortoise race. In a slow-paced affair like that — especially against Steve Blake and Andrew Goudeluck, who would have struggled by themselves in an empty gym, never mind against one of the NBA’s finest on-ball defenders — Bradley’s energy might have been enough to swing the outcome.

P.S. — Rumor has it that Goudeluck carried around rosary beads all Thursday morning just thinking about dribbling the ball upcourt against Bradley, and that Blake spent all day watching re-runs of Prison Break trying to devise a way to escape from Bradley’s clutches.