Marcus Morris out another week, Smart still day-to-day

The Boston Celtics continue to have injury problems as the regular season continues into its second week. Marcus Morris missed the first three games of the new year, and will reportedly miss another week with knee soreness.

With Gordon Hayward likely out for the season, Boston is still trying to make adjustments on the fly to replace an all-star caliber player that they lost five minutes into their first game. Morris is a player that can shoulder some of the scoring load lost with Hayward’s injury, but we’ll have to wait at least another week to see him in action.

Unfortunately, Morris wasn’t the end to the Celtics’ injury report. Marcus Smart suffered an ankle injury against the Bucks last Wednesday when Jaylen Brown fell backwards into his leg. Smart missed the team’s first win of the year in Philadelphia, and is still listed as day-to-day going into this week.

Both Smart and Morris will likely play heavy minutes once they return, but while they recover from their respective injuries, Boston’s younger players will have more opportunity to play in featured roles. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are both averaging over 35 minutes per game, and will continue to get heavy playing time until Boston gets the two Marcuses back.

Boston will play the Knicks(10/24), Bucks(10/26), and Heat(10/28) this week before the Spurs come into town next Monday. Hopefully Smart will be back before the Spurs game, an we can only wish for the best on when Morris will make his Celtics debut.