Jaylen Brown has missed the last two Boston Celtics games with a back injury but could play Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Jaylen Brown was ruled out of the Boston Celtics Friday night contest with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, but it’s still possible that he may play on the second leg of the back-to-back Saturday in Minnesota, according to the Boston Celtics.
#NEBHInjuryReport: Jaylen Brown (sore back) was able to shoot around today and will do so again tomorrow morning to see if he can return to the lineup against Minnesota.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 30, 2018
Brown will travel with the team to Minnesota, then will be a game-time decision for Saturday. If Brown’s back doesn’t tighten up on the plane ride, and he’s able play in pregame without any pain, he said he’ll give it a go.
"“I think it’s a possibility. We’ll see,” Brown said hopefully. “I didn’t test it as much as I’m going to test it tomorrow, so I’ll have a better understanding tomorrow of where I’m at and the pain level. If it’s bearable, I’ll be able to go.”Brown has experienced lower back tightness throughout his career, so he has a routine that he goes through that helps loosen him up. The fall he took against the Mavericks, however, caused it to tighten up and even resulted in back spasms that lasted a few days."
Brown was having one of his best games of the season, scoring 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, when he fell on his tailbone, landing off-balanced after jumping for a loose rebound.
In Brown’s absence, coach Brad Stevens has turned to Marcus Smart to start in his place the past two games. With Smart in the starting lineup, Boston got off to a 10-2 start in the first quarter against New Orleans.
The 6-foot-7 junior wing is tallying 11. points and 4.1 rebounds per game, but is shooting 39 percent from the field in 20 games. Prior to Dallas, Brown had shot under 50 percent in 16 of 19 games and failed to score in double figures seven times.
The Celtics moved Gordon Hayward to the bench in part to possibly give Brown more room to breathe offensively. Perhaps when Brown returns, he’ll join the second unit for the same reasons.
Boston’s second unit has defended well, but struggled to score at times, while the starters haven’t always started the game with great energy. Starting Smart could help solve at least one of those problems.
The Boston Celtics were missing not only Jaylen Brown Friday vs. the Cavs, but also Al Horford. Horford sat out to rest up for the second leg of the Celtics back-to-back Saturday in Minnesota. Horford has been troubled by knee pain and sat out against Atlanta in a similar strategy.