Jaylen Brown will be relegated to a bystander Tuesday night when the Boston Celtics go for the season series sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Brown came into the showdown against Boston’s divisional rival as questionable due to low back pain, but about 90 minutes prior to tip off, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla ruled out the star guard for the contest.
It’s not a surprise Brown will sit out after the back ailment severely hampered his play in Friday’s win over the Utah Jazz. The injury likely won’t sideline Brown for long, though, as Mazzulla believes he should be back in action Wednesday when the Celtics host the Toronto Raptors on the second night of a back-to-back.
“Anticipate him playing tomorrow,” Mazzulla told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “We’ll just see how he responds in the morning.”
Brown isn’t the only member of the Celtics who will miss the matchup against the 76ers. Robert Williams won’t suit up due to left knee injury management — the 46th game of the season he will sit out this season — while Payton Pritchard won’t play either as he tries to get over a nagging left heel injury. Danilo Gallinari remains out as he continues to rehab from ACL surgery.
Mazzulla did confirm that Williams will play against the Raptors, which was to be expected since the Celtics have held the oft-injured center out of one game of back-to-backs all season.
Boston is 3-0 when facing the 76ers this season and the shorthanded Celtics will look to make one more statement Tuesday against Philadelphia in what could be a potential playoff preview.
