Yet again on the Boston Celtics injury front, with the good news, a little bad.
The franchise has slowly been working its way back towards full health with second-year center Robert Williams III being cleared to play ahead of the Houston Rockets game on Feb. 28, and starting point guard Kemba Walker anticipated to return soon after.
While Time Lord didn’t play against the Rockets — likely needing some more time to get up to game speed after a near-two month absence — the UConn product is going to be potentially available in limited minutes against the Brooklyn Nets after practicing successfully on his recently balky knee.
That team is without its own starting point guard in former Celtic Kyrie Irving, and while normally shouldn’t be much of a threat, could threaten to steal a road win in TD Garden given the bad news alluded to above.
#NEBHInjuryReport Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart both missed practice today due to illnesses. Their statuses are uncertain for tomorrow.
Kemba Walker (knee) practiced today and could be available for limited minutes tomorrow night.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 2, 2020
That would be that All-Star third-year swingman Jayson Tatum and do-everything guard Marcus Smart may both miss the Brooklyn meeting due to illness — the team reports they missed practice, and that their status for the game is uncertain.
A short-term return of the Hospital Celtics can certainly be weathered with aggressive, connected play. But if Boston comes out flat down two crucial players, this could be something of a trap game in the team’s race for the East’s second seed.
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