The Boston Celtics will be without three of their starters against the Washington Wizards this evening. Yesterday, Boston ruled out Derrick White (left hand sprain) and Kristaps Porzingis (right hamstring strain), while announcing Jayston Tatum (right ankle impingement) and Jaylen Brown (right ankle sprain) as questionable. Tnis morning, the Celtics provided an updated injury report which moved Brown’s status from questionable to out.
Brown will miss his seventh game this year. Brown has been having a strong campaign after All-Star weekend averaging 28.9 points, 6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.2 steals.
Last week, the Celtics played a back-to-back and Jaylen Brown featured against the Portland Trail Blazers but was unavailable the next night against the Utah Jazz. With the Celtics on the front end of a back-to-back, it’s possible that Brown is being rested today so he’ll be good to go against the Detroit Pistons on Monday. Since Al Horford has yet to play in back-to-back games this season, it makes sense to rest one of them today and the other on Monday to balance the squad.
For Derrick White, this will be the guard’s fifth game missed, while Kristaps Porzingis will miss his fifth straight game while only appearing in 46 games so far this year. Jayson Tatum on the other hand has only missed three games this season.
With the Celtics already clinching a playoff spot in their last win against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, and a few games away from clinching the number one seed in the East (the magic number is 7), the Celtics have the opportunity to prioritize health over wins.
