Celtics Injury Report: Jaylen Brown Joins Kristaps Porzingis in Unwanted List Ahead of Cleveland Visit

After a spectacular victory for the Boston Celtics against the Golden State Warriors last night, it seems like their star player is on the injury report tonight. Jaylen Brown finds himself sidelined due to a knee injury for the matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cs are on a hot 11-game winning streak with a 48-12 record in the East. The Cavaliers, though, the third-seeded are still nine games away from getting anywhere near Boston. So, even if the Celtics do lose tonight, they would remain at the top.

Along with him, Neemias Queta, the team’s two-way big man will be missing his second straight game with a right knee hyperextension. Kristaps Porziņģis is also on the injury report with a quad injury and wasn’t available for yesterday’s win.

Porzingis’ absence does provide players like Al Horford, Xavier Tillman, and Luke Kornet more time on the floor. But then again, the Celtics do have the luxury of sitting out their starters. Porzingis hasn’t been too lucky in avoiding injuries. In fact, the big man has faced leg injuries a little too much since last year.

There is no doubt that the 7’2 Latvian has become a key piece in the Cs championship run. His defensive acumen and offensive depth have proved to be imperative for the team in their climb to the top. But as mentioned earlier, Boston does have enough firepower to rest their starters.

Jaylen Brown doesn’t have much affability with injuries

Since he arrived at the NBA to this point, Brown hasn’t been affected too badly by injuries. A five-star recruit from the class of 2015, JB managed to get the feel and the NBA speed pretty quickly. That’s evident in the first season he played. In the 78 games that Jaylen Brown played in the 2016-17 season, 20 of them were as starters.

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That in itself speaks volumes about the 27-year-old. The 3x All-Star isn’t afraid to get physical or absorb contact in his quest to land a shot. And as such, it’s natural to imagine a contact-first player to have a long history of injuries. Fortunately, that’s not the case with Brown. If anything the only time he came close to facing a major injury was in the 2020-21 season.

May 2021 saw the team announce that Jaylen would miss the rest of the season due to a torn ligament in his left wrist. The next set of injuries we see would be in 2023. But then again, none of them were serious. A rest here and there was all that was required for the forward-guard to get back on the floor. Hopefully, this injury is also along those lines.