Boston Celtics
Joe Mazzulla said Brown is “day-to-day”.
The words “Achilles” and “Celtics star” in the same sentence have become all too familiar for Boston fans in the past year.
Jayson Tatum returned to play earlier this month, coming off the Achilles tear he suffered last May. He has yet to get back to his true form, particularly from the field, but he has been a productive and impactful member of the team, meshing well with the rest of the roster.
While Celtics fans have enjoyed seeing Tatum back on the parquet, especially considering Boston has won seven of its nine games that Tatum has played in, an Achilles injury is affecting the team’s other star: Jaylen Brown.
Brown appeared on Boston’s injury report with left Achilles tendinitis ahead of its matchup with the Atlanta Hawks at TD Garden Friday night. The Celtics originally labeled him as questionable to play with calf tightness on Thursday’s injury report.
Head coach Joe Mazzulla offered a positive update on Brown’s health while speaking with reporters before Friday’s game.
“Day-to-day,” Mazzulla said of Brown. “He was in today, he had treatment. Day-to-day.”
When asked if he expects Brown to miss multiple games due to the injury, Mazzulla reiterated that the player’s status is “day-to-day”.
Brown is coming off an impressive 31-point performance against the reigning NBA champion Thunder Wednesday, resulting in a 119-109 victory for Boston and ending Oklahoma City’s 12-game win streak. Brown scored 14 of his points in the third quarter to put the Celtics on top entering the fourth quarter.
Brown, 29, has been Boston’s most important player this season. The Celtics were largely expected to have a “bridge year” given Tatum’s major injury and were not anticipated to have the 48-24 record and second-place standing in the Eastern Conference that they currently possess at the end of March.
Brown, who earned his fifth All-Star nod this year, has played in 65 of Boston’s 72 games played thus far and has performed like a legitimate MVP candidate from the start. He’s averaging the fifth-most points per game in the NBA (28.6), which is a career-high, behind the Lakers’ Luka Doncic, the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards, and the 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey.
Brown’s 7.0 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game are also career-best numbers, as well as his 80.2 free-throw percentage. He’s also attempting the most free-throws of his career (7.5 per game) and the most field goals (10.3). Brown leads the league in two-point field goal attempts with 16.0 this season, entering Friday.
If Boston were to be without Brown for any extended period of time, it’s hard to imagine the team not struggling down the stretch, especially if Tatum doesn’t fully return to his true form soon.
Including Friday’s Hawks game, the Celtics have 10 regular season contests remaining. Boston will play back-to-back against the Hornets Sunday and Atlanta again Monday.
The Celtics’ most important matchup remaining will be with the Knicks on April 9. New York finds itself in third place in the East, trailing Boston by one game in the standings.
As for the rest of Boston’s injury report, Nikola Vucevic remains out with a right ring finger fracture. However, Derrick White (right knee contusion) and Neemias Queta (right thumb sprain) are available.
Tipoff between the Celtics and Hawks in Boston is set for 7:30 PM Eastern Time.
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