BOSTON — Jaylen Brown’s vacation is going to begin a little bit early.
The Boston Celtics ruled out the fourth-year swingman for Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers at TD Garden. With NBA All-Star weekend set to begin Friday in Chicago, this is the last game for Brown and the Celtics until next Friday.
Brown, who has dealt with a myriad of injuries this season, sustained a left calf contusion in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s loss to the Houston Rockets. Brown was listed as probable on the injury report Wednesday, but head coach Brad Stevens said at Thursday’s shootaround that Brown would go through his pregame routine to determine if he should play or not.
When Stevens addressed the media at 6:15 p.m. ET., he had yet to receive an update, but shortly thereafter was when he officially was scratched.
Though keeping Brown out obviously is a smarter move in the long term, it will make the Celtics’ job tougher against the Clippers, as Brown likely would’ve been marking Kawhi Leonard and/or Paul George throughout the game.
Tip for Clippers-Celtics is set for 8 p.m. ET.
