BOSTON — Jaylen Brown will miss his second straight game with left Achilles tendonitis on Sunday in Charlotte, the first half of a back-to-back. Jayson Tatum, listed as questionable to begin the day as part of the management of his return from surgery, will play in the game, likely signaling his absence on Monday in Atlanta. Derrick White, who suffered a knee contusion earlier this month in San Antonio and has played since missing one game after, remains questionable.
Brown’s initial listing on the report one day ahead of Friday’s game against the Hawks referred to the injury as calf tightness, an ailment more in line with receiving standard rest throughout the season. That description changed to the Achilles tendonitis early on Friday when the team ruled him out that afternoon, perhaps signaling a longer look into an injury that occurred last Wednesday against Oklahoma City. Joe Mazzulla called Brown day-to-day on Friday.
“Yeah, he was just a little banged up after Wednesday’s game,” Mazzulla said.
Brown reached 65 games played against Oklahoma City but has appeared in one against the Spurs where he logged fewer than the required 20 minutes for the game to count toward his season award eligibility. That still gives the team leeway to manage an injury over the final nine games, and three weeks leading up to the postseason, since Boston inevitably will not be participating in the play-in tournament.
Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard and Derrick White led a comeback win over Atlanta without Brown on Friday, and the Celtics have fared well in both non-Brown minutes and in eight games the team won where he went 7-1. Despite that, Brown still has work to do in order to solidify First Team All-NBA standing and the outside chance remaining that he could contend for an NBA MVP award.
The Celtics play at 7:30 on Monday in Atlanta.
