Wake up, new injury report just dropped.
#NEBHInjuryReport for tomorrow vs. Milwaukee (1/2):
Malcolm Brogdon (right achilles soreness) – PROBABLE
Jaylen Brown (facial fracture) – OUT
Danilo Gallinari (left knee ACL repair) – OUT
Marcus Smart (right ankle sprain) – OUT— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 13, 2023
#NEBHInjuryReport (2/2):
Jayson Tatum (illness, non-COVID) – DOUBTFUL
Grant Williams (right elbow swelling) – QUESTIONABLE
Robert Williams (left ankle soreness) – QUESTIONABLE— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 13, 2023
This could get rough! The Boston Celtics, riding a four-game winning streak, are set to take on the Milwaukee Bucks, riding a 10-game winning streak), tomorrow in Milwaukee, but according to the injury report, Boston could be missing a lot of firepower. There was some lingering hope that Marcus Smart (ankle) and Jaylen Brown (face) would be able to squeeze in one game before the All-Star break, but they’re both listed as out tomorrow. I wouldn’t expect them to play Wednesday against Detroit either.
This means we’ll have to wait a bit longer to get last year’s starting lineup back on the floor together to add to the 29 total minutes played as a unit this season. With the absence of Smart and Brown, Derrick White (last week’s East Player of the Week) and Jayson Tatum have kept the team afloat during this streak. Derrick White’s PotW award will be put to the test if Tatum can’t go tomorrow due to illness.
The plan was for Tatum to likely rest against Detroit to send him packing for the All-Star game a little early, according to Brad Stevens, but it appears that his immune system has other plans.
A regular season game in February against the Bucks doesn’t hold too much importance in the grand scheme (don’t tell Bucks fans that, though), but it would have been preferred for an injury report like this to pop up against a lesser team if for no other reason than for the Celtics to add to their incredible stats against the top-four teams in the East.
Additionally, Grant Williams has a sore right elbow, which makes him questionable for the Bucks game. He wore a sleeve on that arm yesterday against the Memphis Grizzlies. Robert Williams tweaked his ankle last week but stayed in the game. Perhaps that’s still bothering him a little, but he’s listed as questionable as well. On the bright side, Malcolm Brogdon is likely to play after he sat out against Memphis yesterday with right achilles soreness.
Derrick White remains the only Celtic to play in every single game this season.
In tomorrow’s worst-case scenario, here’s Boston’s depth chart:
Ball-Handlers: Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, JD Davison
(s)Wings: Sam Hauser
Bigs: Al Horford, Mike Muscala, Blake Griffin, Luke Kornet, Mfiondu Kabengele
Nine players, and four of them play the same position! Could be an interesting game if nothing else. Tune in tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. EST to see how it all shakes out.
