Paul Pierce has a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, but the injury is not expected to keep him from playing in Game 6 against the Atlanta Hawks, the Celtics announced Thursday.

Pierce injured the knee in shootaround prior to Game 4, when he went off for 24 points in less than 17 minutes. He seemed to lack lift on his jump shot after tweaking the knee in Game 5, although he hit a 3-pointer to bring the Celtics within a point before airballing a shot that would have given the Celtics the lead.

Avery Bradley has a strained left rotation cuff and also is expected to play, the team announced.

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