Boston Celtics Get More Bad News Despite Historic New Year’s Eve Blowout Victory

Getty

Jaylen Brown (l) and Jayson Tatum (r).

On New Year’s Eve, the Boston Celtics got just what they needed. The defending NBA champions were coming off their worst slump of the season — in fact, their first slump of the season — losing four of six games including their only two-game losing streak when they fell to the Orlando Magic on December 23 and arch-rival Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas Day.

The slump saw the Celtics sink to 22-9, five full games behind the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers and a slim half-game ahead of the third-place New York Knicks.

But on New Year’s Eve the Toronto Raptors brought their 10-game losing streak to the TD Garden in Boston, and that proved to be the best medicine for the Celtics’ ills. After a sluggish first half, Boston erupted for 45 points in the third quarter and another 35 in the fourth when Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla emptied his bench.

When it was all over, the Celtics’ 125-71 victory was the second-largest margin of victory ever for the NBA’s most successful franchise (the Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls by 56 on December 8, 2018). And for the Raptors, it was the worst defeat in the team’s 30-year history.

Despite Massive Win, Bad News for Boston

All should have been well for the Celtics, but there was an ominous sign late in the game when the team’s second-leading scorer and three-time All-Star Jaylen Brown emerged from the locker room with an ice pack wrapped around his right shoulder.

“Brown has been flexing his right shoulder for the last several minutes,” Boston Herald Celtics beat writer Zack Cox reported during the game. “Saw him doing it during a timeout and continued after he went to the bench.”

The next day, the Celtics got the bad news. The team’s official injury report listed Brown as “questionable” for Friday night’s road game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The injury report also listed center Kristaps Porzingis as questionable with a left ankle sprain. That injury has kept Porizngis sidelined for three games, since he was forced to leave the Christmas Day matchup against Philadelphia.

Porzingis missed the first 17 games of the season as he recovered from surgery on a tendon in his left ankle. The 7’4″ Latvian shot-blocker has appeared in only 11 games so far this season, and he has departed early from three of them with injuries.

Injuries Holding the Defending Champs Back

Injuries have hampered the Celtics this year as they set their sights on a repeat NBA title. Coming into the New Year’s Eve matchup with Toronto, the Celtics starting five combination of Brown, Porzingis, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White had played only 85 minutes together over six games. That ranked them 39th among five-man combinations in the league to that point.

Last year, the starting five for Boston were sixth overall in minutes played together.

The Celtics need to get healthy as they head into what looks to be their most difficult road trip of the season. After Friday night’s game in Minnesota, they travel straight to Houston for a Saturday contest with the 22-11 Houston Rockets, winners of seven of their last 10. On Sunday, the Celtics face the West-leading, 22-5 Oklahoma City Thunder before wrapping up the trip January 7 in Denver against the 2023 NBA champion Nuggets.