The Boston Celtics fell to the Orlando Magic Sunday night at TD Garden, but managed to clinch home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs before even tipping off.
Thanks to an Indiana Pacers loss to the Brooklyn Nets, the Celtics locked up home-court without even lifting a finger. Now that the stage is set for round one, the Celtics are avoiding any potential issues in their regular season finale.
The Celtics are sitting out seven players in Tuesday’s matchup with the Washington Wizards. Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, Al Horford, Marcus Morris, Marcus Smart, and Jayson Tatum will all be out of Boston’s last regular season game, according to the team’s latest injury report.
Smart suffered a strained oblique in Sunday’s loss to the Magic, causing some concern as the team looks towards the playoffs. Brad Stevens did say after the game that Smart was walking around the Celtics locker room and added that the injury did not seem as bad as they initially had thought.
Tatum has a shin injury that caused him to miss the majority of Sunday’s game, but his absence is likely precautionary similar the rest of the injury report.
If you’re looking for Robert Williams, Guerschon Yabusele, RJ Hunter, and Brad Wanamaker minutes, Tuesday night is the game for you.
Sitting out all of these players can benefit Boston in more ways than one. A Washington win works in the Celtics favor, as it would help the Memphis Grizzlies keep their 2019 first round pick, rather than have it convey to Boston
The Celtics and Wizards tip off from Capital One Arena on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. ET.
