The Celtics will be extremely shorthanded in their backcourt on Friday night in Portland after Malcolm Brogdon was downgraded to out according to Joe Mazzulla.
Marcus Smart (illness) and Jayson Tatum (hip soreness) will be active after both players were deemed questionable on Friday. Brogdon was probable before he was ruled out by the team.
“If I go out there and play tonight, no excuses,” Tatum said on Friday of his injury. “I don’t know, like a five (out of 10) I guess. Took a hard fall. Feels better than it did (Thursday) morning. The next couple days is just icing and stuff like that.”
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The Celtics already had three players listed as out beforehand: Payton Pritchard (heel), Robert Williams III (hamstring) and Danilo Gallinari (ACL recovery). Pritchard told MassLive he has no timetable for a return as he’ll miss his fifth straight game. Williams is expected to return on Tuesday night in Sacramento at the earliest as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
Without Brogdon and Pritchard, the Celtics may elect to bring Derrick White off the bench for added depth. The team will only have two veteran point guard on the roster available in Marcus Smart and White with two-way rookie JD Davidson providing emergency depth. With Brogdon sidelined, look for a big bump in minutes for Sam Hauser as well.
Boston will look to improve to 3-1 on their road trip in Friday’s matchup against a reeling Blazers squad that has lost four straight games.