National Basketball Association

Celtics' Pietrus hits court in awkward fall

Published Mar. 23, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Boston Celtics guard Mickael Pietrus left the court on a stretcher and was hospitalized after an awkward collision late in the first half of Friday night's 99-86 loss against Philadelphia. Pietrus was listed as having a questionable closed head injury.

Coach Doc Rivers said Pietrus had X-rays and an MRI. He had no other information.

Pietrus later was released from the hospital, but he remained in a Philadelphia hotel overnight and will have more tests Saturday.

Pietrus crashed to the court after he collided with 76ers guard Lou Williams on a drive down the lane. Pietrus landed hard on his tailbone and his head nearly smacked the court. He instantly clutched the back of his head with both hands and rolled over on his side. Pietrus was down for at least 10 minutes and was quickly tended to by trainers from both teams.

The Celtics circled Pietrus and a couple of players took a knee as the swingman was put on a stretcher and taken out. Celtics sat on the bench with their heads bowed.

''It looked awful,'' Rivers said. ''I just saw his neck snap. You knew that was bad. He was throwing up on the floor, so that's not very good either.''

Pietrus started in place of injured guard Ray Allen.

— Newscore contributed to this report.