The Boston Celtics will warfare the Utah Jazz in a street affair on Tuesday night. Boston will be besides a range of key players, however, including Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, the team announced.
Brown is out with a sacroiliac strain, whilst Porzingis won’t play due to a proper hamstring strain. Meanwhile, Al Horford (left huge toe sprain) is out and Svi Mykhailiuk (personal reasons) is questionable as of this story’s writing.
Boston has gained back-to-back games heading into Tuesday’s contest. They have been the first-class team in the NBA for the duration of the 2023-24 season. In fact, the Celtics presently hold an astounding 8.5-game lead over the second-place Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference.
Health will be of the utmost importantance shifting forward, though. That will be in particular authentic for Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis.
Jaylen Brown update
Brown has been exquisite in current action. His reputation was also in query for the Celtics-Portland Trail Blazers game, but he ended up being made available. Brown led Boston to a convincing 121-99 victory over Portland, eventually scoring 27 factors to go along with six rebounds, five assists, and one steal.
Brown is averaging 28.9 points per game on 52.8 percentage area purpose and 36.4 percent three-point capturing throughout his previous eight outings, per JaylenMuse on X (formerly Twitter). He will truly be missed on Tuesday night.
The hope is that Brown will now not miss too a great deal time. The Celtics might also simply be resting him in the 2nd of a back-to-back as he battles an injury.
Kristaps Porzingis update
Porzingis has dealt with some harm trouble in 2023-24. He’s been magnificent whilst on the court, but Boston is hopeful he can relaxation and get geared up for the playoffs. Hamstring injuries are constantly hard to predict a strict timeline for, however.
Porzingis is set to miss his third consecutive game Tuesday. In the end, the Celtics might also still be able to take care of enterprise towards the Jazz, however the foremost subject is Porzingis’ long-term health.
Boston wants each Brown and Porzingis alongside Tatum in the playoffs. Brown hasn’t dealt with too an awful lot injury trouble in recent seasons, however Porzingis has only regarded in greater than 55 games as soon as on the grounds that 2021-22. As a result, the Celtics will proceed with intense warning when it comes to Porzingis’ health.
The exact information is that he surpassed that 55-game mark in 2022-23, playing in sixty five contests with the Washington Wizards. And so a ways in 2023-24, he’s played in 46 games.
Celtics looking ahead
The Celtics are the NBA’s best team. They are going to win the Eastern Conference barring a historical collapse. The one element Boston can’t do is become stagnant earlier than the playoffs.
The Celtics want to discover a way to preserve their side and motivation. And most importantly, they must get wholly healthful in order to make a run in the Eastern Conference.
