Unlike in their first-round series, the Boston Celtics will be at full strength when they take on the New York Knicks to start the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Celtics revealed a clean injury report Sunday prior to Monday’s Game 1 at TD Garden. It’s terrific news for Boston that Jrue Holiday is off the injury report after dealing with a right hamstring strain and Jaylen Brown, who has played through a right knee posterior impingement, isn’t listed, either.
Holiday missed the final three games against the Orlando Magic due to the hamstring strain. His presence on the floor for the Celtics is critical as he’s a proven playoff performer. Holiday will also be key in slowing down Knicks All-Star guard Jalen Brunson, who averaged 31.5 points in New York’s series against the Detroit Pistons.
“You can’t just do it with one guy, it takes a team,” Mazzulla told reporters, per Boston.com’s Conor Roche. “It takes different matchups. It takes different coverages. But there’s got to be a level of physicality, a level of discipline, a level of attention on tendencies. If you add up all the points, there are a number of points you can work to be disciplined and work to control.”
The Celtics finishing up the Magic in five games and getting nearly a week off seemed to do a lot of good for Brown and his health. He’s been nursing his knee injury throughout the season and it’s the first time he hasn’t been listed as questionable going into a contest since Game 2 against the Magic.
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Boston owned the regular-season series against New York, winning all four matchups versus the Knicks with an average margin of victory of 16.3 points. And the Celtics being completely healthy will only cement their upper-hand over the Knicks, at least on paper.
Featured image via John Jones/Imagn Images
