Having lost two games in a row, the Boston Celtics will be raring to get back to winning ways when they take on the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night to start their NBA In-Season Tournament journey. But, as Jaylen Brown said, it's not like the Celtics are treating this game any differently than to an ordinary regular season game, especially if Al Horford's injury status is anything to go by.

According to the latest injury report submitted by the Celtics to the league, Horford, the 37-year old big man will miss their Friday night clash against the Nets due to injury management. The Celtics will sorely miss Horford's two-way contributions, as he stands out as one of the team's most important weapons in their rotation.

The Celtics have mostly relied on an eight-man rotation to begin the year, with Al Horford leading the bench trio of Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser. Luke Kornet has also played sporadic minutes, although his appearances have been more matchup-dependent due to his lack of mobility when guarding the perimeter. Without Horford, expect the likes of Oshae Brissett and perhaps even Lamar Stevens

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Against the Nets, however, the Celtics should be able to survive without one of their most defensively-resolute big men, as Brooklyn is currently facing a plethora of injury woes to their frontcourt. Despite getting Cam Johnson back from injury, the Nets will be without Nicolas Claxton and Ben Simmons on Friday night, which means that Brooklyn should end up utilizing Dorian Finney-Smith as a small-ball five with Day'Ron Sharpe looking to provide bursts of energy off the bench.

This shouldn't be anything serious for Horford, as, for the past few seasons, the Celtics have been very cautious when it comes to his health. This Friday night contest against the Nets is the first game of a back-to-back set, and in terms of matchup reasons, it makes more sense for Horford to miss this game instead of the Toronto Raptors clash. The Raptors, after all, have more size as a unit, and Horford should come in handy in that game, especially when the other Celtics players are more fatigued by then.