Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens told 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Christian Arcand and Tim McKone on Wednesday that Jaylen Brown and Semi Ojeleye have been ruled out for Wednesday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets.
Brown has been dealing with an Achilles injury and most recently missed Thursday night’s game against the New York Knicks. But he played Saturday night against the Chicago Bulls and dropped 20 points (7-10 FG) to go along with five rebounds and three assists.
On Christmas Day, Brown limped off the court after making what looked like knee-to-knee contact with Washington Wizards forward Markieff Morris just before the end of the team’s 111-103 loss in Boston.
Jaylen Brown taking the Morris knee to, it seems to be the joint line/lateral patella @bballbreakdown pic.twitter.com/BQxrcrMp6N
— BBiomechanics (@BBiomechanics) December 26, 2017
It’s unclear where Brown and Ojeleye stand for Thursday’s matchup against James Harden and the Houston Rockets (25-7), but Stevens says he’s living day by day and it’s a wait-and-see situation concerning the return of the youngsters.
“[Brown] felt better today, but not good enough to play,” said Stevens. “He hasn’t loaded that knee to test it at the level he would need to.”
As for Ojeleye, he “went through shoot around but was unable to really push off the way that he wants to and that we need him to,” said Stevens.
The Celtics will also be without Marcus Morris on Wednesday. Rookie Jabari Bird will be in Charlotte to fill out the bench, according to the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn.
Listen to the full Brad Stevens interview with Arcand and McKone below:
–By John ‘The Dude’ Hardiman, 985TheSportsHub.com