With the Boston Celtics set to defend their NBA title in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs beginning on either April 19 or 20, Beantown got a major update on All-Star forward Jaylen Brown‘s knee injury on Saturday morning.
According to a report by ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Brown received pain management injections in his injured right knee this week in an effort to “promote healing” before the playoffs. Shelburne added that the four-time All-Star is expected to be ready for the start of the team’s opening round postseason series.
“Last year’s Finals MVP has been dealing with a bone bruise in his knee for some time, but it appeared to be causing him more pain recently. He didn’t play much in the second half or overtime of the Celtics’ win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday,” she wrote.
Brown also missed Thursday’s defeat against the Orlando Magic, which ended his chance of suiting up for the required 65 contests to be eligible for postseason awards.
The 28-year-old’s 22.2 points per game across 63 contests this season are his lowest since the 2019-2020 campaign, but he’s still second on the team in scoring behind MVP candidate Jayson Tatum. Brown’s also posted 5.8 rebounds, a career-high 4.5 assists and a team-best 1.2 steals per tilt.
Celtics Reporter Compares Brown’s Injury Situation to Donovan Mitchell
CLNS Media Celtics reporter Bobby Manning took to social media on Saturday morning to compare Brown’s situation to a similar circumstance with Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell last spring.
“Last season, Donovan Mitchell received an injection for a bone bruise in early March and missed 6 games, returned for 2, then sat 6 more as he prepared for playoffs. Ultimately played well in R1 (28.7 PPG) then exited R2 as pain continued,” Manning posted on Bluesky.
Mitchell’s Cavs (last year’s fourth seed in the playoffs) ended up falling to the top-seeded Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals in five games with the Louisville product missing the final two contests of the series. This season, Cleveland has locked up homecourt advantage through the conference playoffs, while Boston will enter the postseason as the No. 2 seed.
Who Could the Celtics Play in the First Round?
Unlike in the Western Conference, where seeding is still to be decided, things are settled in the East.
The Cavaliers (64-17) and Celtics (60-21) will await the two survivors of the Play-In Tournament, with Boston getting to face the winner of the matchup between the Magic (41-40) and Atlanta Hawks (39-42) — who will be the No. 7 seed — in the first round.
With or without Brown, the Celtics would be heavy favorites against either the Hawks or Magic.
Orlando has been mediocre both at home (22-19) and on the road (19-21) this season, while Boston is 27-13 at TD Garden and its 33-8 road mark is the best in the NBA. The Magic, however, have won five in a row, allow the fewest points per tilt in the NBA (105.4) and could be a surprisingly difficult challenge.
Atlanta has also been average at home (20-19) and on the road (19-22), while its offense is ranked fifth (118.2 points per game) and their defense is 27th (119.5 points allowed per game). The Hawks took two out of three against the Celtics during the regular season, but the teams haven’t played since January.
