Derrick Favors, Jae Crowder

Boston Celtics' Jae Crowder (99) hopes to return soon from a high ankle sprain.

(AP photo/Michael Dwyer)

BOSTON -- Good news for the Boston Celtics: Jae Crowder believes he is progressing from a high ankle sprain more quickly than the training staff initially expected.

Walking through the locker room without the benefit of a boot, Crowder stressed he will take a cautious approach to recovery, but said the swelling in his injured right ankle has diminished significantly. He feels like he is "moving faster" than the initial timeline of two-plus weeks.

"I don't really know the timetable," Crowder said Wednesday night while addressing the media for the first time since his injury. "I feel like I'm moving ahead. I'm moving along very well. We've got the swelling out of it for the most part. There's still a little swelling but I feel like I'm moving faster than what we thought with the swelling going down as soon as possible."

Crowder landed badly on his ankle after laying in a fast-break bucket during the second half of Friday night's loss to the Houston Rockets. He has missed one subsequent game, a defeat to the Indiana Pacers, and will need to watch his teammates host Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.

The initial timeline -- "a couple of weeks, minimum," according to Celtics head coach Brad Stevens -- would keep Crowder out at least until Boston embarks on a five-game Western Conference road trip near the end of this month. The forward, who had not sat out any previous games since joining the Celtics last season, said he has undergone treatment twice a day.

As expected, Crowder is having a tough time exercising patience with his recovery.

"For sure, that's what I'm going through right now," he said. "I'm going through like -- I'm telling myself I'm good, but they're telling me I'm not. I just feel very sore. And I feel like, I'm close to being able to return, but we're going to take all precautions, take our time with it, but I'm going to keep doing my part and working out and being ready to go."

"I don't get hurt like that," Crowder added. "I have my tweaks here and there but I've never sat out extended time before in my career. So this is, like, uneasy for me to sit back and get treatment and do rehab and stuff like that because I don't know how to tell myself I'm hurt. But I'm working. I'll be back as soon as possible."

Olynyk back, Jerebko out

One stretch big man, Kelly Olynyk, will return for the Celtics, but another, Jonas Jerebko, was a late scratch with a previously undisclosed ankle issue.

Olynyk missed Boston's previous 12 games with an injured right shoulder. He plans to wear a pad against the Thunder.

"I'm going to try it out," Olynyk said. "It's feeling as best its felt as soon as I got hurt. So that's a good thing."

"I've taken a couple hits in practice," the sharpshooter added, "worked with (strength and conditioning coach Bryan Doo). I think it's ready and that's why I'll be out there."

Jerebko's left ankle soreness wasn't revealed until the Celtics locker room closed before the game.

#NEBHInjuryReport: Jonas Jerebko is out for the game tonight with a sore left ankle. — Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 16, 2016

With Jerebko and Crowder both out, Olynyk's floor-spacing presence will be critical.

"We needed a little more spacing (in the loss to the Pacers)," he said. "It was really congested last night. Everyone was on top of each other. We just need to play our style of basketball, play together, spread the floor, attack, movement, moving bodies and moving the ball and we'll be alright."