As a result of Monday night's 117-101 win, the Boston Celtics are now leading their Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Philadelphia 76ers, 1-0. However, it sounds like the Celtics could be without the services of shooting guard Jaylen Brown (right hamstring) for Thursday night's Game 2 affair, according to a report from ESPN's Chris Forsberg.
Jaylen Brown remains doubtful for Game 2. He did not practice Wednesday. He’s on court now doing light shooting but Brad Stevens uncertain how much he’ll do in walkthrough.
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) May 3, 2018
As Forsberg reported, Brown did not participate in Wednesday's practice session, though he was on court for some light shooting work on Thursday morning.
Brown, now 21 years of age, did not play in Game 1 due to his injury, though he certainly wanted to. In an interview with A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston, the former No. 3 overall pick vowed to be back for Game 2, but head coach Brad Stevens and his staff are remaining cautiously optimistic about that possibility.
“I’ll be back,” Brown told NBC Sports Boston on April 30. “I’m playing.”
Brown spent much of his time prior to Game 1 trying to convince Boston's medical staff that he was well enough to play.
“But there was some concern that I could re-aggravate it and it becomes a season-ending injury,” Brown said. “I’m basically trying to come back in two days from a two-week type injury.”
Currently, Brown is listed as “doubtful” for Game 2, which means he hasn't been ruled out just yet. If Brown is unable to play, Celtics fans should expect to see a heavy dose of Marcus Smart.
“He wants to play but he's smart about it. He trusts our trainers,” coach Stevens told ESPN.
“The bottom line is, with this hamstring injury, it's not terrible,” coach Stevens continued. “It's not a long-term thing, it shouldn't linger if he comes back at the right time. But you could make it worse if you don't come back at the right time, if you have to guard J.J. Redick and Marco Belinelli. And he's going to have to do that so this is a great test to know when you're going to be back or not. Because it's not just about running, it's about running at full speed all the way around the court. So that's a real test.”
Without a doubt, Brown has become an important part of Boston's game plans. In his 70 games played for the Celtics during their regular season campaign, the Marietta, Georgia native racked up averages of 14.5 points on 46.5 percent shooting from the field (39.5 percent from beyond the arc), 4.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steal in 30.7 minutes per.
Thursday night's Game 2 matchup is set to tip inside the famed TD Garden at 8:30 p.m. EST with TNT having live broadcast coverage. Be sure to keep your browsers locked on ClutchPoints for more updates on this topic as they become available.
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