Boston Celtics injury news: Cs to ‘prioritize’ rest for marquee offseason acquisition, vet bigs

The Boston Celtics will prioritize rest for their marquee offseason acquisition, Kristaps Porzingis, as well as their veteran frontcourt 1-2 punch of Al Horford and Robert Williams during the 2023-24 season according to NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg — who doesn’t believe the NBA’s new rules prohibiting rest from two designated stars, of which Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown qualify, on the same night.

“The Tatum/Brown combo missed just one game last season in which they were both rested without an apparent injury, and that was Boston’s regular-season finale,” Forsberg wrote. “ESPN reported that the league will afford lenience in various circumstances, including end-of-the-season rest. The Celtics are more likely to prioritize rest for their big men like Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Robert Williams III. Both Porzingis and Horford were last All-Stars in 2018, removing them from the star designation.

“Boston still could rest Horford on the second night of back-to-backs without fear of penalty. If Porzingis were to earn All-Star status during this upcoming season, it could complicate the ability to rest him and one of the Jays the following season, but that wouldn’t be the worst problem for Boston to have to navigate.”

Boston Celtics frontcourt issues with age, injuries will force Luke Kornet into role

Even with Porzingis, Horford, and Williams all able to fill in for each other on various nights, the fact that all of them will need their nights off means that the frontcourt’s reserves will be forced into a role. That means Oshae Brissett, and to a far greater extent Luke Kornet, must be prepared to step in and play on many nights during the upcoming campaign.

Brissett will be a more critical depth piece for the Cs when Tatum is taking a breather since he’s Grant Williams’ direct replacement, but Kornet will most certainly see minutes on the nights where multiple big men are out of the lineup; a distinct possibility most nights considering Horford doesn’t do back-to-backs and Porzingis and Williams have routinely missed time throughout their careers.

Prepare to see the vaunted “Kornet Kontest” plenty in 2023-24.