Is Jaylen Brown Playing vs Rockets? Final Celtics Injury Report Revealed

The Celtics star missed the last game against the Timberwolves.

Dec 31, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) drives to the basket while Toronto Raptors guard Davion Mitchell (45) defends during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images / Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

The Boston Celtics continue to be one of the best teams in the NBA when their starting lineup is healthy. That's one of the big reasons why they were able to win the NBA Championship a year ago. Unfortunately, the Celtics have had problems staying healthy this season.

Kristaps Porzingis has missed most of the season, playing in just 11 games so far this season. Jrue Holiday has missed a few games as well, as he has missed six games so far. They haven't been able to have their full lineup out there very often, which affects chemistry.

Jaylen Brown was the latest starter to miss a game. He missed the game against the Timberwolves on Thursday due to a right shoulder strain. This is the second game of a back-to-back for the Celtics, so it's possible that they were holding him out so he could play a string of games in a row that aren't back-to-back games.

The Celtics are playing the Houston Rockets on Friday night. Prior to the game, Brown was listed as questionable due to that same shoulder strain.

With Brown out against Minnesota, Sam Hauser moved into the starting lineup. Brown will be out in this game, however.

Jaylen Brown is OUT tonight, per the Celtics.

Kristaps Porzingis is available to play. https://t.co/vyBEXK0SIO

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 3, 2025

Boston is one of the very few teams in the league who don't need to make a move in order to win an NBA title this year. They pretty much have the same team back from a year ago that won the championship. The only thing this team needs to do is to get and stay healthy.

Those injury issues are a concern, though. If Boston wants some insurance against those injuries, they could try to add one more guy who can help them out off the bench. Again, that's not required for a team that can beat anyone when their threes are falling.

The Celtics have now won three of their last four games despite the injury problems that they have faced. They are in the middle of a four-game road trip. Boston started that road trip with a win in Minnesota, so now they have to keep things going against Houston, Oklahoma City, and Denver.

Making sure that the team stays as healthy as they can heading into the playoffs is the top priority for Boston. Any lineup decision they make between now and April will be made with that in mind.

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