The Boston Celtics will be without a few of their starters for Monday’s matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers. Both Kristaps Porzingis (right hamstring tightness) and Jrue Holiday (left knee tendinopathy) will watch the game in street clothes.
Sharpshooting reserve Svi Mykhailiuk is also out for personal reasons.
The Cs had listed Porzingis as out on Sunday night while listing Holiday and the rest of the starting five as questionable.
It turns out that Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White will all suit up in Portland after all.
In addition to those three, Monday’s starting lineup will likely feature Al Horford and Sam Hauser. Both players have served as fill-in starters this season. Horford has started 24 times this year, filling in for Porzingis when he is out. As for Hauser, he’s been out there for tipoff six times.
It isn’t shocking to see Porzingis get the night off since he usually sits out one of the games in each “back-to-back.” He’ll likely be back on the floor Tuesday night in Utah. Holiday’s absence is a bit more rare, as he’s missed just five games so far this season.
Boston being a bit shorthanded will likely open up some extra opportunities for bench regulars like Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet, as well as some minutes for deeper rotation guys like Xavier Tillman and Jaden Springer.
Pritchard will take the floor in his home state of Oregon for the first time since the 2021-22 season. The last time he was at Moda Center, he popped off for 19 points in a Celtics blowout win over the Blazers.
Kornet could use any added opportunity to build off of his 14-point outing against the Phoenix Suns on Saturday.
Both Tillman and Springer joined the Celtics at the trade deadline last month with Tillman coming from Memphis and Springer from Philadelphia. Neither of the new Cs has been able to crack Joe Mazzulla’s rotation quite yet. Tillman has played an average of 12.3 minutes across four appearances while Springer has averaged 3.3 minutes in six appearances.
A Monday night League Pass game in Portland could be a terrific opportunity for fans to get an extended look at the pair.
It also might be worth tuning in simply for the prospect of seeing the Celtics pick up their 50th win of the season.
