BOSTON -- Boston Celtics swingman Evan Turner will engage in noncontact shooting drills on Thursday with a goal of returning to game action as early as Friday's visit from the Milwaukee Bucks.

Turner, who suffered a left eye abrasion in Sunday's win over the Los Angeles Lakers, missed his first game in two seasons when he sat out Wednesday's contest against the New Orleans Pelicans. Turner said Lakers big man Julius Randle inadvertently poked him in the eye trying to tap out a missed shot in the final seconds of Sunday's game.

"I don’t know anything about a scratch. I thought that bad boy came out," Turner said. "I didn’t know -- all I saw was black. So I was kind of freaking out. I thought of 'Any Given Sunday,' when his eye came out on the field. So I was saying, ‘No, damn, if I can’t see out my left eye that would suck.’ I’m glad it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be."

"I thought of 'Any Given Sunday,' when his eye came out on the field," said Evan Turner of his eye injury. "So I was saying, 'No, damn, if I can't see out my left eye that would suck.' I'm glad it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Barry Gossage/NBAE/Getty Images

Turner was in such immediate agony that he ran off the court toward the Lakers' locker room.

"I just ran off the court. I didn’t want to be on the ground whining," Turner said. "Does this hurt you? Yeah, I curled up the fetal position for like eight seconds and then I was like, ‘No, I can’t go out like this.’ If I’m going to cry out of my good eye, it’s going to be in the back. That’s why I ran to the back."

Turner's injury clearly didn't diminish his sense of humor -- or style. He wore a camouflaged blazer over a black turtleneck on the bench during Wednesday's game. Swelling in his eye had subsided, but there was still noticeable pink marks near the bottom of his left eye, where he got hit.

"Kelly [Olynyk's] eye last year was way worse, I think," Turner said while referencing a nasty bubble that Olynyk developed nearly a year to the day of Turner's injury after Olynyk got elbowed by teammate Shavlik Randolph.

"That wasn’t really the eye. Obviously, mine, it felt weird. It was hard to open up and it was really heavy, obviously. Even when I opened it, it was kind of a lot of discomfort. But the next day I felt a little bit better. [Tuesday] I felt great. And today I feel even better."

Turner added that, "If there were no doctors, I would play [Wednesday]. So I’ll be fine."

Turner said he plans to wear protective goggles upon his initial return. He said the style will be less Kurt Rambis or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and more MC Hammer. Said Turner: "I want it to be a little bit nicer.”

Turner kept things light during his pregame chat with reporters. Having shot 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from beyond the 3-point arc since the All-Star break, Turner joked, "Hopefully [the eye injury] doesn't affect my 3-point percentage. That’s the biggest thing I’ve been worried about. Hopefully I can figure that out."

When asked whether he had tried to engage in any basketball activities since the injury, Turner said, "No, I sat on the couch. In the league, you don’t really get days off. They make you work for every dollar. So I took full advantage of those two days off. I’ve just been chilling. I guess the biggest thing is making sure I don’t have too much heavy impact to irritate the eye, but I got a ball in my house and like air shot it. But I mean, it’s gonna be what it’s gonna be. I’m still not gonna shoot 3s or whatever. I’m gonna go shoot midrange, so I mean that’s it. It’s not gonna change my game."

The Celtics leaned heavier on rookies Terry Rozier and R.J. Hunter during Wednesday's game against the Pelicans, but being shorthanded is nothing new for Boston since the All-Star break.

"[Turner has] been a really important part, and the biggest thing that Evan brings to the table is that he can really handle the ball," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "He gives you a guy who can initiate offense with Isaiah [Thomas] in the game, or a guy who can play off of it. The way he’s been shooting for the last month, or all season, has been really important. To have other people step up in Jae [Crowder's] absence, in Kelly [Olynyk's] absence and in Jonas [Jerebko's] absence has been important in the last month and a half."

Turner conducted his pregame interview in a personalized Bruins jersey with his name and No. 11 on it after engaging in a jersey swap with Bruins winger David Pastrnak.

"I think I came out up on the deal because this is probably way more expensive than a Celtics jersey," said Turner. "I got a Revolution jersey from my man Charlie Davies and now one from David Pastrnak."