The Boston Celtics are heading into their Thursday night game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on the heels of a 54-point win over the Toronto Raptors. It will be their first game of a four-game road trip, with the other contests coming against the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Denver Nuggets.
On the other side of things, the Timberwolves just lost to the Thunder, but before that, they won three games in a row. Boston took down the Timberwolves earlier in the season at home, but now, the game will be on Minnesota’s home turf, and they’ll be looking for revenge.
Here are the injury reports for the Celtics’ game against the Timberwolves on Thursday, January 1.
Celtics injury report vs. Timberwolves on Thursday, January 1
- Jaylen Brown OUT (right shoulder sprain)
- Kristaps Porzingis OUT (left ankle sprain)
Timberwolves injury report vs. Celtics Thursday, January 1
- Rob Dillingham OUT (ankle)
- Luka Garza OUT (ankle)
Heading into the game on Thursday, Jaylen Brown is the newest addition to the Celtics injury report. He was listed as questionable due to a right shoulder sprain but later ruled out.
Once the fourth quarter rolled around on Tuesday against the Raptors, Brown was spotted on the Celtics bench with ice wrapped around his shoulder, so it shouldn’t be a massive surprise to see him on the injury report with this issue.
Kristaps Porzingis was listed as questionable once again due to a left ankle sprain that he sustained on Christmas Day against the Philadelphia 76ers, but he was also ruled out ahead of the game.
He has yet to appear in a game since then, missing two games against the Indiana Pacers and one against the Toronto Raptors.
There have been few updates regarding Porzingis’ progress recovering from his ankle issue, though head coach Joe Mazzulla has stated multiple times that Porzingis is doing alright.
On the Wolves’ side, only two players will be absent on Thursday against the Celtics.
Rookie guard Rob Dillingham, who played very well against the Celtics back in November, is out. He’s dealing with an ankle issue and has missed two straight games.
In addition, Luka Garza will be out due to an ankle problem of his own.
Projected starting lineups for Celtics vs. Timberwolves
This is likely what the Celtics will roll with (depending on injuries):
- Derrick White
- Jrue Holiday
- Jayson Tatum
- Sam Hauser
- Al Horford
Here is what the Timberwolves’ first five could look like:
- Mike Conley
- Anthony Edwards
- Jaden McDaniels
- Julius Randle
- Rudy Gobert