The Celtics officially ruled Jaylen Brown out for Sunday’s game against the Hornets, meaning he will miss his second straight game with left Achilles tendinitis. It’s a very specific injury listing for Brown, and one that seemingly popped up out of nowhere. He has been an iron man this season, only missing a handful of games for clear load management.
But this now feels like something more, as it’s back-to-back games with the tendinitis designation. He was originally listed as questionable with calf soreness before being ruled out on Friday, and now this has been the designation.
The good news is that JB did go on the road trip, and Joe Mazzulla termed his status as day-to-day, so there’s no reason to panic. Hopefully, the Celtics are just smartly managing this thing to the fullest and operating with an abundance of caution around their MVP candidate.
And that’s absolutely the smart thing to do, regardless of how close Jaylen is to playing. Even if there is any possible doubt about his achilles or calf, there’s simply no reason to chance it. With the season the Celtics have had, they’ve earned the luxury to rest him (and anyone else who needs it) down the stretch to get as close to 100% as possible for a playoff run that now has real championship expectations.
The Celtics aren't' winning a title if Jaylen Brown is injured
Those expectations can go right out the window if any one of the top guys is compromised in any way, and that’s true for Jaylen Brown more than any other player. He has already hit the 65-game threshold to be eligible for awards (not that they should make decisions like this based on that anyway), and the team is realistically not in any danger of falling out of the top four in the East.
Would it be great to roll into the playoffs on a winning streak and to lock up the two seed and homecourt advantage until the conference finals? Of course. But the importance of doing so pales in comparison to the value of getting the core players rested, healthy, and ready to go on a deep run into June, feeling as good and confident in their bodies as possible.
If that means stealing some rest days and nursing nagging injuries at the expense of losing some regular-season games and falling in the standings, so be it. We saw JB try to play through an injury in the playoffs last season, and the difference this season has been night-and-day. If this is something that can heal better with extra rest, the Celtics would be crazy not to do it.
It’s good to see that they are prioritizing the right thing down the stretch of the season, and ideally, we’ll get some good news on Jaylen and see him back in the lineup before too long. For now, we can just wait for more updates and see how this team continues to perform while shorthanded.