Boston Celtics injury news: The Cs will ‘prioritize’ rest for a prominent offseason addition, and veteran bigs will play.
According to NBC Sports, the Boston Celtics will prioritize rest for their big offseason signing, Kristaps Porzingis, as well as their seasoned frontcourt 1-2 punch of Al Horford and Robert Williams during the 2023-24 season. Boston’s Chris Forsberg — who does not think the NBA’s new rules barring two designated stars, of which Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are.
“The Tatum/Brown combo missed just one game last season in which they were both rested without an apparent injury, and that was Boston’s regular-season finale,” Forsberg wrote. “According to ESPN, the league will grant leniency in a variety of conditions, including end-of-season rest. Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Robert Williams III are expected to be prioritized for rest by the Celtics. Porzingis and Horford were both All-Stars in 2018, hence they are no longer considered stars.
“Boston could still rest Horford on the second night of a back-to-back without fear of being penalized.” If Porzingis earns All-Star honors this season, it may complicate the ability to rest him and one of the Jays the next season, but that wouldn’t be the worst scenario for Boston to face.”
The Boston Celtics’ frontcourt difficulties, including age and injuries, will force Luke Kornet into a role.
Even though Porzingis, Horford, and Williams can all fill in for each other on different nights, the fact that they will all require their evenings off means that the frontcourt’s reserves will be forced to fill in. That means Oshae Brissett, and to a lesser extent Luke Kornet, must be ready to fill in and play on a variety of nights over the upcoming season.
Brissett will be a more important depth piece for the Cs when Tatum is resting because he is Grant Williams’ direct replacement, but Kornet will almost certainly see minutes on nights when multiple big men are out; a distinct possibility most nights given Horford doesn’t do back-to-backs and Porzingis and Williams have routinely missed.
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