Celtics injury report: 3 players listed for Monday’s game vs. Clippers

The Celtics will remain shorthanded in the frontcourt on Monday night against the Clippers despite getting a big boost at center. The team announced three bigs are on the injury report for tonight’s contest at TD Garden as they face off against a hot Clippers team on a back-to-back.

The big news of the night is the expected return of Kristaps Porzingis. The team upgraded him to probable for the first time after a five-month absence following offseason leg surgery. Porzingis had missed the first 17 games of the season but returned to practice last week, scrimmaging with Boston’s G-League affiliate.

Jayson Tatum spoke at length last week about the impact he expected Porzingis to make upon his return.

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“What kind of lift do I think he’ll give us? I mean, you seen it last year,” Tatum said. “We are just a really good team right now. I mean, when we got KP, we’re just that much better on both ends of the floor. our chemistry is there. You know, it’s like having a cheat code. Seven foot guy you can get a ball to on mismatches and watch him go to work.”

The timing for Porzingis’ return could not be much better with the other ailments impacting the frontcourt for Boston. Al Horford (non-COVID illness) is listed as doubtful and is expected to miss the second half of the back-to-back after playing big minutes in Sunday’s win over the Wolves. He has not played in a back-to-back for the last two seasons.

Luke Kornet is also listed as doubtful for Monday night due to hamstring tightness. He was a late scratch before Sunday’s win over the Wolves with the same injury. Without Horford and Kornet available, the Celtics will still need Xavier Tillman or Neemias Queta for big minutes off the bench even with Porzingis’ return to the lineup. Tillman was the primary backup center on Sunday with Neemias Queta receiving his first DNP-CD in weeks.

The Celtics host the Clippers at TD Garden at 7:30 p.m. Monday night.