Boston Celtics center Jared Sullinger has been adamant that a lingering left-hand injury isn't a big concern, but the growing padding around the ailment and a declining stat line suggests the opposite.

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Jared Sullinger with a padded glove.Two days after aggravating the hand injury while falling to the floor against the Atlanta Hawks, Sullinger sported a padded glove over his left paw during Thursday's 94-82 loss to the Chicago Bulls. Sullinger put up 11 points and 11 rebounds over 31:13, but his shooting touch (5-of-12 overall, 0-for-5 away from the restricted area) seemed off, and he just hasn't been himself in recent games.

Coming back from a three-day holiday break last month, Sullinger was spotted wearing a similar glove at practice and revealed that he had a deep bone bruise and some sprained ligaments in his hand stemming from an injury incurred against the Charlotte Bobcats in late November. Sullinger downplayed the lingering effects then, saying it hurt only when he got hit in a certain spot.

He seemed to hit that spot Tuesday while crashing to the TD Garden floor after trying to muscle up a shot in traffic. Sullinger again downplayed the injury, but the team might have to consider its options in order to protect the 21-year-old from himself.

Over the past four games, Sullinger is averaging 6.8 points and 6.5 rebounds over 24.5 minutes per contest. He shot only 31.7 percent overall and was only 2-for-20 (10 percent) from outside the restricted area during those four games. He is minus-33, and Boston owns a team-worst offensive rating of 77.1 when Sullinger is on the floor during that span.

That's simply not the Sullinger we saw at the start of the season. Before this four-game lull, Sullinger was averaging 14.5 points and 7.3 rebounds over 27.2 minutes per contest through 26 appearances. He shot 47.8 percent overall, including 59.4 percent from the midrange (and 39 percent overall outside the restricted area). He was plus-89, and Boston owned a glitzy offensive rating of 105 with him on the floor (second-best on the team) over that span.

There might be nothing Boston's medical staff can do. Sullinger might be at the mercy of letting the ligaments and bone bruise heal and, with proper padding, he might simply be limiting any further chance of aggravation. But the fact that it's become an issue at all, more than a month after the initial injury, is reason for concern. And the Celtics must consider resting Sullinger and that hand if that's the only way to allow it to fully heal.

Boston has lost five of its past six games, and resting Sullinger for the betterment of his future should not be a concern for the team.

Some additional notes after the Bulls topped the Celtics: