Boston Celtics
Brown left the Celtics’ preseason finale early due to a hamstring injury.
Jaylen Brown wasn’t a full participant at the Celtics’ first practice after he injured his hamstring in Wednesday’s preseason finale, but the team doesn’t seem too concerned about his health.
The Celtics’ star wing is “day-to-day” with the hamstring injury, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters on Friday.
Mazzulla added that Brown “was able to do everything but the live stuff” at Friday’s practice. However, Mazzulla didn’t share what Brown’s availability will be for Wednesday’s regular-season opening matchup against the 76ers.
“I haven’t caught up with him yet,” Mazzulla said. “I expect him to be at his best every single day, then we’ll kind of take it from there. Just one day at a time.”
Brown suffered the injury early on in Wednesday’s game against the Raptors, coming up lame after running up court in transition during the first quarter. He immediately went straight to the locker room at the next whistle, which was some cause for concern.
Following Wednesday’s game, Mazzulla said he expected Brown to be fine, but wasn’t certain.
Brown has to adjust to a new role this preseason with Jayson Tatum out for the foreseeable future due to his Achilles injury, preparing to become Boston’s go-to scorer for the regular season. Brown and some of his Celtics teammates have also remarked that they’re playing at a faster pace than ever during training camp.
On top of that, Brown is returning from an injury himself. He underwent surgery to repair his meniscus in June, playing through the injury over the final weeks of the regular season and the playoffs.
Still, Brown has had some strong moments in the preseason. He scored 21 points in 20 minutes in the Celtics’ preseason-opening win over the Grizzlies, making 6 of 13 shots from the field. In the Celtics’ blowout win over the Cavaliers on Sunday, Brown scored eight points to go with six assists, five rebounds, three steals, and a block in 22 minutes.
While the Celtics are dealing with injury concerns with their top two stars, the 76ers might also be down their top top players entering Wednesday’s opener. Paul George has already been ruled out to start the season, but the 76ers are hopeful Joel Embiid will be able to play against the Celtics, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
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