After an incredible performance against the Thunder on Wednesday night, it was no big surprise to see Jaylen Brown listed as questionable on the Celtics’ initial injury report for Friday night. He proved everything he needed to out there in a physical, intense game, and with the playoffs quickly approaching, it makes a ton of sense to get him some rest.
So, when the Celtics ruled JB out officially on Friday, it didn’t raise any red flags or anything. But looking into it a little more closely, this may be more than just a simple rest night for Brown, as the official injury report lists him as out with left achilles tendinitis.
That’s a specific injury, and not something that we’ve known him to be dealing with this season. Hopefully, this is nothing, and he just has some soreness. You never want to read too much into the report, and teams have to get somewhat creative when resting star players like Brown to avoid potential fines from the league.
We’ll likely get more info from Joe Mazzulla when the Celtics do media ahead of their Friday night tilt with the Hawks, but if this is an actual injury for JB, that would be about the most devastating thing that could happen to the team.
Brown having the best and healthiest season of career
Brown is putting together an MVP-caliber season this year, doing everything for the Celtics and looking healthier than he has in a long time. Last season, we now know, he was playing through a knee injury for much of the year and the playoffs.
He got meniscus surgery in the offseason, and now, seeing him fully healthy this year, the difference has been monumental. If the Celtics want to continue this incredible run and make a run at a title, the last thing they can survive is for Jaylen to be compromised in any way.
They’re obviously already dealing with a less-than 100% version of Jayson Tatum, who’s trying to get back to full strength and reacclimated. He’s coming along great, but he’s clearly playing as more of a complementary star to JB than the alpha we’re used to seeing.
If the game against OKC was any indication, that can be enough to work, but that’s with the best version of Brown out there. If both players are battling through injuries, that would drastically change things and could potentially derail this magical season.
So again, let’s all wait until we get more information before overreacting, and hopefully, this is nothing more than a well-deserved day off in late March. But with the achilles tendinitis listing, Celtics Nation’s guard is officially up.