The Celtics could be without three starters on Sunday afternoon as they host the Denver Nuggets at TD Garden. Jaylen Brown is back on the team’s injury report after scoring 37 points in Friday’s loss to the Cavaliers. He’s listed as questionable with right knee pain. Brown also missed Wednesday’s loss to the Pistons with thigh soreness.
Jrue Holiday (right hand mallet finger) and Kristaps Porzingis (non-COVID illness) are also likely to miss their second straight game. They are both listed as doubtful for the matchup. Holiday suffered his injury in Wednesday’s loss to the Pistons and has been called day-to-day by Joe Mazzulla. Porzingis has been dealing with his illness for nearly a week now even though he played through it in Wednesday’s loss to the Pistons.
The Nuggets will come into town shorthanded amid a lengthy road trip. Peyton Watson (knee sprain) has been declared out while Aaron Gordon (ankle sprain) and Zeke Nnaji (ankle sprain) are both questionable.
The Celtics will be looking to sweep the season series in the matchup after winning in Denver back in January on a night that the Nuggets played without Nikola Jokic due to illness.
Boston had Neemias Queta, Xavier Tillman and Jordan Walsh all practice with the Maine Celtics on Saturday likely in preparation for the reserves to see potential playing time Sunday if Boston is without three starters. Joe Mazzulla stuck to a seven-man rotation for the entire second half on Friday night in a 123-116 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. That trend will be unsustainable moving forward given the heavy burden it placed on guys like Al Horford (38 minutes) and Sam Hauser (38 minutes) Friday night.
The Celtics and Nuggets will tip off at 1 p.m. on Sunday in a nationally televised matchup on ABC.
