The Celtics will be without Jaylen Brown in Friday night’s game against the Charlotte Hornets, their second-to-last game of the regular season. That means that Brown — who has missed 11 games with a right knee impingement this season — won’t reach the 65-game minimum to be eligible for end-of-season awards like All-NBA.
Brown had previously maintained that the 65-game minimum was not a factor in his decision to play down the stretch. Now, having played in 63 games with two games to play, he officially won’t reach that minimum.
Joe Mazzulla gave an update on Brown’s status on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Zolak & Bertrand show Thursday.
“He’s doing well,” Mazzulla said. “No one knows their body, no one knows how to push themselves, no one knows how to prepare themselves, body and mind, through the rigors of a season (like him).
“At the end of the day, the most important thing is just kind of trust in Jaylen, and trust in his work, trust in his process and also trust in the training staff and the sports science and the guys that put the time in all the time. … I trust that he’ll be ready to go when it matters most.”
Last week, Brown opened up about the knee injury he’s dealt with since February.
“There’s no guarantee, honestly, that rest is going to make anything better. I wish it would, but it’s the cards that are laid out.”
“It is what it is. It sucks. I 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 Celtics rotation will be available against the Hornets
The Celtics rested their top six players in Wednesday’s game against the Magic in Orlando; Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis were ruled out in the morning, while Brown was scratched after undergoing warm-ups. As a result, the Celtics fell 96-76 to the Magic, their lowest-scoring game of the season.
But, outside of Brown, the full lineup will be available on Friday — likely for the last time this season.
The Celtics play the Hornets once again on Sunday afternoon for their last game of the regular season. Then, the first round of the playoffs begins on Sunday, April 19th, when the Celtics will play the winner of the Play-In game between the Magic and whoever secures the No. 8 seed.
