On Wednesday, a heavyweight clash will ensue when Eastern Conference leaders Boston Celtics host the Oklahoma City Thunder at the TD Garden. Jaylen Brown and Co. has already earned a home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs. A win over the Thunder will ensure no team in the West can usurp their regular season record and seal home-court advantage if they reach the NBA Finals.
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OKC is locked in a tight three-way battle with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets for the top spot in the West and are 0.5 games behind the two.
Though the Thunder have more to lose, the Celtics will have to be wary, but their odds of winning could be dampened before tip-off if Jaylen Brown wouldn’t fit to suit up. The forward is nursing a left-hand sprain and his status for the game is listed as ‘Questionable’ on the team’s injury report.
The Celtics will take every precaution and ensure that Brown is completely healthy and gets clearance from the medical staff to play in this playoff rehearsal. The veteran sat out of Boston’s comfortable win over the Hornets and will miss the game against OKC if not deemed fit to start.
Celtics’ record without Jaylen Brown
Jaylen Brown rarely misses too many games in a season. In four straight seasons, with the Celts, he has featured in 66 of Boston’s 75 games in this campaign. The Celtics have won an incredible 84.8% of the games that Brown has featured in this season. However, they are shockingly 9-0 when the veteran forward has sat out due to injury or load management.
Their third and fourth largest wins of the season, in terms of point differential, have been without Brown. They beat the Brooklyn Nets by 50 points and thrashed the Memphis Grizzlies by 40 despite missing their All-Star forward.
However, it’s worth noting that only one of those nine wins has been against a team with a winning record. The other eight have come against teams that have lost more games than they’ve won this season. The Celtics’ incredible roster can handle business against poor teams even if they miss one of their stars.
However, the Thunder is amongst the best teams in the NBA and the Celtics could face them in the Finals. They would ideally like to be at full strength and have Brown in the starting lineup, but won’t push it and risk losing him for an extended period with the playoffs right around the corner.
