Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown got painkilling injections in his right knee this week, according to ESPN. The four-time All-Star has missed seven of the Celtics’ last 15 games due to a bone bruise with posterior impingement in his right knee, and, since logging 38 minutes in a 118-112 loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 12, he has not crossed the 30-minute mark in any of his appearances.
In Boston’s 119-117 overtime win against the New York Knicks this past Tuesday, Brown checked out at the 2:46 mark of the third quarter and did not return. He has been sidelined for the two games the Celtics have played since then, but he is expected to be available when the playoffs begin next weekend, per ESPN.
“He’s a tough dude,” Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis told reporters after the Knicks game. “He always preaches his warrior mindset, and he lives by it. But to what extent do we need that right now? Maybe he needs to take care of it and make sure he’s going to be ready for the most important moments. So I think we just have to encourage him to make sure he does everything he needs to prepare to get it healthy and to prepare for what’s going to come. And I think he’s a smart guy, so he will.”
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After a 124-103 loss against the Miami Heat on April 2, Brown told reporters that he was “in some pain, but just pushing through it” and the injury was “something I gotta work through and manage.” He said he had “come to grips” with the fact that he’s “not going to feel [like] my normal self” while he’s dealing with it.
“I’ve seen some specialists and stuff like that, but we got a great medical staff and we got good people around, so, come playoffs, my goal is to be feeling my best,” Brown said. He added that he and the staff have “a good plan in place.”
In 63 regular-season games, Brown averaged 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 34.3 minutes per game. He shot a career-low 32.4% from 3-point range, however, and only 29.3% on pull-up 3s specifically.
The Celtics will host the Charlotte Hornets in their regular-season finale on Sunday. As the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference in the first round of the playoffs, they will face the winner of Tuesday’s play-in game between the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks.
