Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, Jayson Tatum, and Derrick White will all miss the Celtics’ last game of the season.
The Celtics will once again rest their top six players in their last game of the regular season, a Sunday afternoon match-up against the Charlotte Hornets. Jaylen Brown (right knee posterior impingement), Jrue Holiday (right shoulder impingement), Al Horford (right knee sprain), Kristaps Porzingis (return from illness reconditioning), Jayson Tatum (rest), and Derrick White (right neck sprain) will all sit Sunday, just as they did on Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic.
Against Orlando, with the same players available, the Celtics started Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Baylor Scheierman, Torrey Craig, and Luke Kornet. They struggled in that one, falling to the mostly full-strength Magic 96-76. Joe Mazzulla noted after that one that the team had gotten to their hotel at 4:30am in the morning.
Jaylen Brown appears to be the only injury of concern entering the playoffs
Jaylen Brown has missed 13 games this season dealing with his knee injury, and ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne reported Saturday morning he had received injections this week to help promote healing.
“It is what it is,” Brown said last week of his injury. “It sucks. wish I could share more details, but whatever my team needs, whatever I can do, whatever I got, Imma give. I’m looking forward to just taking it one day at a time, and I’m hopeful that some things will improve over the course of these next two weeks or so.”
The rest of the injuries listed don’t appear to have significant postseason implications at this time; though Kristaps Porzingis noted after Tuesday’s win over the Knicks that he still wasn’t 100% as he continues to recover from illness that held him out of more than two weeks of basketball.
JD Davison and the Celtics’ two-ways will get another extended opportunity
Sunday could be an opportunity for the Celtics’ two-way players to once again get additional run; Drew Peterson and Miles Norris won’t be eligible to play in the playoffs.
But, JD Davison, who has been a two-way player on the Celtics for the past three years, will be eligible. That’s because Davison has agreed on a two-year deal with the Celtics, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Saturday.
Torrey Craig is fresh off his best performance as a Celtic and could see some extended run Sunday as well; Joe Mazzulla called the veteran’s 12-minute stint on Friday night “sick” and praised his professionalism through uneven minutes. Sunday will likely be another opportunity for him to get extended run.