WALTHAM -- Boston Celtics wing Jae Crowder said an MRI on his left elbow revealed no structural damage, but still does not know the source of his injury.

Crowder left Sunday's win against the New York Knicks after noticing swelling in his non-shooting elbow. He missed practice Tuesday but considered the MRI a sign he will not miss much time.

"No structural damage so pretty good," Crowder said after watching the end of practice Tuesday. "Very very tender and sore right now. I sat out of practice today and hopefully when I wake up tomorrow we'll have a better sense of if I can play tomorrow night (against the Cleveland Cavaliers)."

Though he did not rule out playing Wednesday against the Cavaliers in a game that could go a long way toward deciding the top seed in the Eastern Conference, Crowder remembers last year, when he rushed back from an ankle injury late in the regular season and it lingered throughout the playoffs.

"I think it's a day-to-day thing," Crowder said of his elbow. "But I do have that in the back of my head, with the possibility of going into the playoffs as close to 100 percent as possible. That's how I'm going to gauge it, day-to-day. But, of course, if I feel like I need to take time before playoffs, I will do so."

He added: "Any injury is frustrating, of course, and to happen this late in the year is frustrating. I feel like I can get over this. Give it a little time, a little rest. I'll be fine, just a little sore. Just gotta get the tingles and soreness out of it. It's an injury. Any injury at this level is frustrating."

Crowder did some shooting before practice, but did not participate in anything else.

"Obviously he's very sore today," Stevens said. "So we'll see. But obviously, yeah, we're always going to be (cautious). If he could injure it further or if it's anything but just dealing with the nagging pain, then we would err on the side of being conservative for sure. But ultimately that's his call and (team trainer Ed Lacerte's) call. That won't be my call."

Losing Crowder would be a big hit to the Celtics, who currently lead the Cavaliers by one-half game for first place. The team has a +8.2 net rating with the forward on the court versus a -3.9 net rating without him. Against LeBron James, Crowder is Boston's obvious top defensive option.

"We're different when we don't have anybody out there but especially him," said teammate Isaiah Thomas. "He can guard multiple positions. He can space the floor and hit the 3-point shot. If he doesn't play we'll be a little different, but we'll try to figure it out the best we can. I think it's been like that all season. With guys being out, we've just got to figure it out on the go. But he's a big part of what we do here and hopefully he'll be ready tomorrow."

Crowder said he has watched film of the Knicks game twice but still doesn't know when he suffered the injury.

"I came in the game with a little lump of my elbow, from falling the previous game. I don't know if that contributed to this injury, but my elbow was a little tender going into the New York game," he said. "The swelling, I don't know where it came from. It just happened. I looked down after a timeout and saw my elbow was pretty swollen, I had to come out of the game. I watched film twice already and still don't know where this swelling came from, to be honest with you. I'm just glad the MRI came back as what he read with not structural damage. It's just swelling, a little blood inside, but that's about it."

Avery Bradley (illness) returned to practice Tuesday and is expected to play against Cleveland.