3 Celtics stars on injury report vs. Nuggets
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The Boston Celtics have had a disappointing week, losing a pair of games against Eastern Conference playoff teams in the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers. On Sunday, they will try to snap that streak and get back in the win column against the Denver Nuggets.
The Celtics have had plenty of problems in the two losses, but injuries have played a major part in some of the inconsistent play from Joe Mazzulla and company. Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis both didn’t play in Friday’s dramatic loss to the Cavs due to injuries.
Of course, the Celtics and Nuggets would like to have their full complement of players for a possible NBA Finals preview in front of their home fans, but a few of their key stars are on the injury report again before tip-off.
Celtics injury report vs. Nuggets
The Celtics will have Jayson Tatum and Derrick White for the game against the Nuggets, but the rest of their starters are banged up. Holiday (finger injury) and Porzingis (illness) are both listed as doubtful on the NBA’s injury report before the game, while Jaylen Brown will play despite being listed as questionable with right knee pain per Jay King of The Athletic.
Brown did play on Friday night and scored 37 points in the loss, so this would have been a reasonable rest spot for him with a tip coming just over 36 hours later against a very good team. However, it looks like he’s going to give it a go. Porzingis and Holiday both seem likely to miss their second consecutive game.
Without those two in the lineup, expect a bigger role for Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard and Al Horford. Hauser and Horford got the start against the Cavs in place of Holiday and Porzingis while Pritchard played 25 minutes off the bench.
Nuggets injury report vs. Celtics
The Nuggets have plenty of injury issues of their own heading into this game. Aaron Gordon didn’t play in the second half of a back-to-back in Detroit on Friday night and is listed as questionable with a left ankle sprain that he has been tending to recently.
Without Gordon, Zeke Nnaji’s role becomes much more important for the Nuggets. He has started to play much better lately, knocking down shots on offense and becoming a versatile defender on the other end. Nnaji started in Gordon’s place in the win over the Pistons and scored eight points in 21 minutes.
Unfortunately for the Nuggets, Nnaji is also questionable for Sunday’s game with a left ankle sprain. Denver is still playing without Peyton Watson, so having both Gordon and Nnaji banged up makes them very small and inexperienced out on the wing.
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