Celtics guard Marquis Daniels has been wearing tape around his left hand and wrist since a Nov. 14 loss in Indiana and, according to reports from Sunday's practice, he tweaked the injury enough to require him to shut it down for a couple of days.

One glance at the stat sheet confirms that Daniels, who sat out much of Sunday's two-hour session and is expected to miss Tuesday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks at TD Garden, has been hindered by the injured wrist/thumb lately.

On the Celtics' recently completed four-game road trip, Daniels scored a total of 13 points on 6-of-16 shooting (37.5 percent). More troubling, however, is that he finished three of the four games with the lowest plus/minus rating on the team (vs. San Antonio, minus-8; Charlotte, minus-4; and Miami, minus-5). For the trip, he was a minus-19 overall in games the Celtics won by a combined 50 points. By comparison, starting shooting guard Ray Allen finished plus-50 for the trip.

The Celtics' bench has struggled at times recently, and Daniels' numbers have undoubtedly suffered because of the decreased production among the reserves as a whole. But the hand injury has prevented Daniels from handling the ball as much as the Celtics would like -- he was pegged to be the point guard of the second unit, but there was a stretch when Eddie House filled that role and recently Paul Pierce has been spending a lot of time on the floor with a unit comprised of Daniels, House, Shelden Williams and Rasheed Wallace.

What's more, Daniels simply hasn't looked as comfortable or as fluid as he did driving to the basket in the preseason.

Following Sunday's practice, Daniels told the Boston Herald's Mark Murphy:

“Nolan Ryan Rondo threw the ball in practice, I tried to catch it, and it just hit my thumb wrong and swelled up a little more,” said Daniels, who said he may have an MRI taken of the thumb and wrist [Monday]. “I had to sit down and rest it a little bit. I don’t remember how it happened. I just noticed that it’s been swelling the last couple of days. I wanted to keep playing, but [coach] Doc [Rivers] thought it would be best if I sat out and let it heal up.

“It affects me to a certain extent, but I’ve played through it. I hope I heal quick. Hopefully it should be gone. It’s very frustrating. I don’t want to miss any time or any games.”

Daniels came under scrutiny in Indiana for his injuries and it's been suggested his inability to stay on the court was one reason the Pacers declined to pick up his option. Besides playing 74 games in the 2007-08 campaign, Daniels has never logged more than 62 games in a season during his seven-year NBA career.

What's more, Daniels was forced to shut down his 2008-09 season with a right wrist injury sustained in early March. He missed the final 13 games of the season after trying to play through the pain. While it's unlikely his current wrist/thumb injury is as serious -- and it's not his dominant shooting hand -- the dip in stats is similar.

Daniels also has a vested interest in his performance this season. He signed a one-year deal with the Celtics for the biannual exception ($1.9 million), making this a contract year.

It's clear Daniels has been playing through pain, something that's sure to earn him even more respect in the locker room. But, in keeping with the mantra of this year's team, the Celtics almost assuredly would prefer he get healthy and preserve himself for the long haul than risk further injury.