As the Celtics come to close to wrapping up a five-game road trip, they could be shorthanded in those final two games. Heading into Monday’s 10:30 p.m. game against the Blazers, the C’s had the entire starting lineup listed in some capacity.
Four of the five starters are listed as questionable: Jaylen Brown (back), Jrue Holiday (knee tendinopathy), Jayson Tatum (ankle) and Derrick White (left hand sprain). The lone player who’s already listed as out is Kristaps Porzingis, who will miss his second straight game due to right hamstring tightness.
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Starting with Porzingis, he was a late add to the injury report ahead of Saturday’s win over the Suns. C’s coach Joe Mazzulla said pregame then that Porzingis is day-to-day and won’t miss too much time. But Porzingis will at least miss Monday’s game. Part of that is likely because the C’s have a back-to-back in Utah on Tuesday, so Boston can stagger Porzingis and Al Horford in those games.
Brown has been dealing with the back issues in the past few games. He said he felt it somewhat in both Denver and Phoenix games, but he’s doing alright. So that injury shouldn’t be serious. Tatum was also listed as questionable heading into the Suns game, so the C’s could be cautious with him.
The new additions to the injury report are White and Holiday. White looked like he tweaked his hand in the Suns game, so his addition isn’t a surprise. Holiday’s injury also shouldn’t be too serious as there’s a chance he takes a rest day in the middle of a long road trip.
The Celtics are coming off a win over the Suns where they snapped a brief two-game losing streak. They’ll bring in their league-best 49-14 record into Monday’s game at the Moda Center.
