The Boston Celtics will be without two starters when they host the Sacramento Kings tonight. Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Jaden Springer will all be in street clothes on Friday night.
Jaylen Brown injured his left hand in the win against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday. On Wednesday Brown played 33 minutes and after the game talked about his wrist injury mentioning he believes he has a sprain or a strained ligament. Even with the injured wrist, Brown put up 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
As much as people think of his scoring, it will be Jaylen’s defense that will be missed against the Kings backcourt, especially De’Aaron Fox. Brown should be in consideration for an All-Defense team.
This will be Brown’s 10th game missed, he missed 15 last season.
Derrick White will also not be in action as he’s out with a low back contusion according to the Celtics injury report.
White, who has been an ironman since he was traded to Boston, will miss his seventh game of the year. Derrick has been reliable all season for the Celtics averaging 15.4 points on 46.6% from the field and 40.2 from beyond the arc.
With Fox leading the Kings in scoring (26.4) Boston would have looked to Jrue Holiday, White, and/or even Jaden Springer to slow down the rapid guard. Without both Springer and White, Payton Pritchard will have to step up to try and maintain Fox when Holiday isn’t on the floor.
Springer (left knee tendinopathy) has featured in 13 games since he was dealt to the Celtics. With Boston clinching the number one seed in the league, the final slate of games could be pivotal for guys like Springer since Boston’s record doesn’t matter anymore.
Along with Pritchard, Hauser is another player who will benefit from the extra bodies being out. Hauser has been on a shooting tear as of late, most notably in his 25-point performance against the Hornets where he shot 7-11 from deep.
The good news for Celtics fans is neither Kristaps Porzingis nor Al Horford is on the injury list which means they’ll have a healthy frontcourt again. The Celtics will need to throw bodies at Domantas Sabonis who is a double-double machine averaging 19.6 points and 13.7 rebounds. Oshae Brissett, Xavier Tillman, and Luke Kornet are all guys who could find themselves on Sabonis throughout the night.
It’s the next man-up mentality for Joe Mazzulla which helped the Celtics achieve a league-best 60-16 record. Without two of their starters, they’ll need to get solid minutes from the bench to get over the line against the pesky Kings who are vying for a higher seed.
Tonight the Celtics host the Kings, with tip-off set to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET.
