On a night the Boston Celtics desperately need to win, the team has announced Monday morning that they will be without Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart for tonight’s game against the Brooklyn Nets.
Currently on a two-game skid, the Boston Celtics have lost five of their last six games on the road. They also happen to be traveling to Brooklyn tonight, to play a Nets squad that has won eight of their last nine games at home.
And now, it’s been announced that the team will be sans guards Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart.
#NEBHInjuryReport: Kyrie Irving (right quad contusion) confirms that he will not play tonight, but will be back for Wednesday’s matchup with Toronto.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 14, 2019
For Irving, news first arose yesterday that he had been put on the injury report for a right quad contusion, an injury he’s struggled with this season. This morning confirms that the team will be without their star tonight in Brooklyn, though the Celtics did announce that he plans to be ready Wednesday against Toronto.
#NEBHInjuryReport Marcus Smart will also be unavailable tonight due to an illness.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 14, 2019
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In a bit more unexpected news, Marcus Smart will also be out due to an illness, a new development that even further depletes the team’s guard depth. There is no confirmation yet as to what exactly is going on with Smart, or if he’ll be good to go on Wednesday.
This leaves the Celtics severely undermanned, and leaves coach Brad Stevens with some interesting choices to make in his rotation tonight. Despite its looks, this is a must-win game for Boston to avoid hitting a three-game losing streak for the second time this season.
It also likely means that Terry Rozier will be starting at guard for the team, which, given his recent performance, might not go so well. He and the rest of the young talent on the squad will have to step up tonight, as the team looked lost without Irving in the fourth quarter of their last loss.
We’re still quite a few hours from tip-off, but it hasn’t been a great start to gameday for the Boston Celtics.