BOSTON — The Celtics have a big one Friday night.
Boston welcomes the Western Conference-leading Golden State Warriors to TD Garden, but will be without the services of Al Horford, Grant Williams, Jabari Parker and Juancho Hernangomez after all being placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
The Warriors also have taken a hit from COVID-19 and will be without third-year guard Jordan Poole, who is in the middle of the best season of his young career boasting a scoring average of 17.9 points per game.
If the Celtics were to come away with a win against the 23-5 Warriors it would take a complete team effort led of course by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but with a strong impact from the bench.
With Horford, Williams, Parker and Hernangomez all out the Celtics will be extremely thin at forward with Robert Williams manning the middle and Enes Kanter available but not much else after them. Tatum may see an extended look at power forward or even small ball center against the Warriors. Bruno Fernando and Sam Hauser also could see extra minutes in the contest.
All-in-all Boston likely will have its smallest lineup of the season to this point. With a bevy of athletic wings available, the Celtics’ best chance against Golden State most likely would consist of constant switching and chaos on the defensive end and strong performances from Tatum, Brown, Marcus Smart and Dennis Schröder on the offensive end.
The shorthanded Celtics certainly will need solid performances by Schröder and Josh Richardson off the bench but even with all of the absences due to COVID-19, this still is a winnable game for Boston.
