Familiar injury will keep Jaylen Brown off court against Knicks
The Boston Celtics will be without forward Jaylen Brown when they face the New York Knicks on Thursday night.
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Patrick McDermott/Getty ImagesThe Boston Celtics will be without forward Jaylen Brown on Thursday night, when they take on the New York Knicks in their final road game of the regular season. Brown was ruled on the Thursday afternoon injury report due to 'left Achilles tendinitis.'
This isn't a new injury for Brown, who was first listed as questionable on the initial injury report yesterday. It's something he's been dealing with for a few weeks, and held him out of two games in late March. He's played in five games since, averaging 37 minutes per game over those five.
Winning this game could help the Celtics give Brown more rest as the regular season wraps up. With a win over the Knicks the Celtics would clinch the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Detroit Pistons have already clinched the top seed, meaning the Celtics would be locked into the No. 2 seed ahead of their final two games of the regular season against the New Orleans Pelican on Friday and Orlando Magic on Sunday. If the Celtics can't beat the Knicks on Thursday, they'd still need just one win or one Knicks loss to clinch that spot.
So far this season, the Celtics have been able to get by in the rare occasions that Brown has missed a game. They're 8-1 when he doesn't play, including a 6-1 record before Jayson Tatum returned.
Getting Brown right for the playoffs should be a priority for the Celtics, as he's carried the team most of the season with Tatum sidelined. In 34.5 minutes per game Brown has averaged 28.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists while shooting 47.6% from the floor and 34.4% from three.
In addition to Brown, three other players appear on Thursday's Celtics injury report. Derrick White (right knee contusion) and Neemias Queta (right toe sprain) are both questionable, while Sam Hauser (lower back spasm) was upgraded from questionable to available.
Tip-off from Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. Tune in for pregame with Sean Grande and Cedric Maxwell starting at 7:00 on 98.5 The Sports Hub and the Celtics Radio Network.
