BOSTON — Hours before tip-off against the Miami Heat on Monday night, the Celtics released their longest injury report of the season.
It featured all six of their usual starters, including Kristaps Porziņģis, who starts at center when the whole team is healthy, and Al Horford, who replaces Porziņģis when the big man is unavailable. Porziņģis and Horford, who are each typically limited to one leg of back-to-backs, were ruled out early because they had played together the night before in Cleveland. The team announced Jrue Holiday (left knee tendinopathy) would also spend the game on the sidelines. Jayson Tatum (right patella tendinopathy), Derrick White (right foot sprain) and Jaylen Brown (illness) were listed as questionable. Sam Hauser, though not on that initial injury report, would later be scratched for personal reasons.
It would have been easy for the Celtics to choose to punt the game by resting many of their most important players. They were playing their third game in four nights. With more games on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, they were in one of their most hectic stretches of the season. Brown, sick enough to miss Sunday’s marquee game against the Cavaliers, still didn’t feel right. White, who also missed the close loss to Cleveland due to a banged-up foot, would have gotten two more days of rest with another DNP. Even if Tatum wasn’t really injured after finishing the Cavaliers game without an issue, he could have used a night off after playing in each of Boston’s first 20 games.
Injury Report update:
Jaylen Brown – AVAILABLE https://t.co/ARmzFaqizr
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 2, 2024
That’s just not how the Celtics’ best players like to operate. They want to be on the court. In a league loaded with stars who consistently miss games, Boston’s top dogs consider suiting up important.
“It’s hard for teams to be great,” Brown said, “if some of their best players never play back-to-back.”
That message could read like a shot at some of the better players around the league. The belief here is that Brown intended simply to share his personal position. The Celtics see the season as a journey. They judge games not necessarily by wins or losses, but by whether they take another step toward reaching their potential. Not everyone will remember that they beat the Heat 108-89 in a sloppy Monday game, but Brown viewed the second leg of a back-to-back as another chance for his team to grow.
“Back-to-backs, it’s not like just the Celtics have got to play them,” Brown said. “Everybody in the whole league (does). It’s no different. So I think we just have the mindset — or try to have the mindset — that we come out and play good basketball and put our best foot forward whoever’s out there as a team. … Back-to-backs are tough to get your body, your mind ready depending on the flights, outside of the injuries. But as you are looking to do something special, those are the moments you’ve got to kind of accept.”
Brown didn’t play in the first leg of Boston’s back-to-back. He still encountered a big physical challenge, if not a bigger one, than the players who did. Joe Mazzulla hailed Brown’s willingness to fight through sickness to score 29 points.
“What Jaylen did to try to prepare to play tonight’s game I thought is important,” Mazzulla said. “It sets a tone for the guys. That sets a tone for the locker room. It sets a tone that you’re willing to work through stuff to play.”
The Celtics aren’t against sitting players who need it. The 38-year-old Horford hasn’t played both legs of back-to-backs in years. Porziņģis, whose recent injury history demands caution, also typically sits out one game of back-to-backs. Holiday, 34, is given occasional days of rest. The organization is smart when necessary, but has also been fortunate to build a foundation of durable gamers.
Tatum has never missed more than eight games in a regular season. He has never missed a playoff game. White played all 82 games in the 2022-23 season before sitting out nine last season. Payton Pritchard has played in every game since the beginning of last season. Hauser has sat out four games already this season, but appeared in all but five games of the previous two campaigns. Brown hasn’t always been an ironman while dealing with various injuries throughout his career, but played in 70 games last season and pushes to be on the court whenever he can. He made it a point to return Monday against the Heat despite dealing with a stomach bug.
“It’s a long season, and we are human beings,” Brown said. “Guys get sick, don’t feel well. Stuff can be going on. Whatever the case is, I’m trying to always be there as a leader for our group and to make myself available. And (against the Heat), trying to miss as (few) games as possible is important for just our group and general health. So I think even when you’re not feeling well, to show that you’re still available I think kind of just sets a tone for your team to have the same type of mindset. These games matter. Even though we’re in December and we want to play into late June, these games matter. So I just had to push through it.”
Tatum, who shot seven for 21 from the field and committed six turnovers, might have played his worst game of the season. He still finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds and the Celtics outscored the Heat by 13 points over his 36 minutes.
“I’d rather them be out there and it not look crisp than not be out there,” Mazzulla said.
The coach knows there are times players need to rest, but believes there’s value in being available.
“You walk into the arena and know you have a chance to win every night, because your best players want to play, and they can play, and that they take care of themselves,” Mazzulla said. “… Really all the guys do a great job of that, so just as a coaching staff, it gives you an opportunity to put the team in position to help win games.”
Mazzulla said all of the Celtics’ players love to play.
“So if they don’t (play), it’s because they really can’t,” Mazzulla said. “And so I think it starts with that with all those guys. And so after that, it’s just you take pride in the fact that the guys love to play and when they don’t, you understand it. And so you just kind of go from there.”
The Celtics have a group of dependable players. Their youth might help. Outside of Horford and Holiday, White is the only rotation player in his 30s. He just turned 30 in July. Tatum and Brown are 26 and 28, respectively. They prepare themselves to handle a heavy load of games and minutes. Without their presence, the Celtics could have come undone against Miami.
Without Hauser, Horford and Porziņģis, Mazzulla tried some funky lineups. Luke Kornet, who tied a career-high with six blocks, played more minutes (27) than he had in all but one previous game. Jordan Walsh started for the second time in his career. Neemias Queta, Xavier Tillman and Drew Peterson — who all competed in a three-on-three game before Friday’s win against the Bulls as part of the “stay ready” group — stepped on the court together during the first quarter. Rookie Baylor Scheierman started the second quarter in a rare rotation look.
With Tatum, Brown and White available, the young players just needed to fit in rather than stand out. Brown said the win provided evidence of how well the Celtics develop players. He said it shows the strength of an organization “when you have guys that are hungry and come in and add to winning.”
“It’s a journey, man,” Brown said. “We need each and every guy. We need the whole chain to be working together. … It takes a complete group. And I thought those guys stepped in, I thought Drew was great, I thought even Baylor came in, made plays. And each and every night, you never know when your name is gonna get called, you just gotta be ready. And those guys have been professionals, and that’s what we need going forward.”
The Celtics need their best players more. It’s a competitive advantage for them that many of those guys are typically able to stay on the court and that they want to do so as much as possible.
“They just enjoy competing,” Mazzulla said. “So I think it’s a strength of those guys.”
(Photo of Jaylen Brown: Brian Fluharty / Getty Images)
