After missing Wednesday night’s game against Dallas, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Morris are expected return to lineup tonight as the Celtics face off against the 17-8 San Antonio Spurs, per multiple reports.
Jaylen Brown likely to wear goggles tonight. Marcus Morris plans to play too.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) December 8, 2017
Morris (knee rehabilitation) continues to monitor some nagging left knee soreness. In total, the combo forward has missed 11 of Boston’s 26 games this season. He remains on a minutes restriction.
The Celtic bench was a combined -20 against the Mavericks, and dearly missed Morris’ shot creation abilities. With the Spurs deploying two conventional bigs in their starting lineup in LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol, Morris is likely to come off of the bench. Aron Baynes should draw his 16th start of the season in a potential revenge game.
Marcus Morris says his knee is feeling better today, after missing Wednesday’s game vs. Dallas. He anticipates that he will play tonight in San Antonio. #NEBHInjuryReport
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 8, 2017
Brown (inflamed right eye) was a late scratch on Wednesday, and should return to his starting shooting guard spot tonight. Brown will reportedly wear athletic goggles instead of his typical contact lenses due to fears that he could irritate his eye.
“They just really irritated my eyes,” Brown told reporters prior to today’s shootaround. “It didn’t get infected or anything, but I woke up [Wednesday] and I couldn’t open it. I couldn’t see, so I couldn’t play.”
“I can’t put contacts back in my eye because you don’t want it to continue to be irritated,” said Brown. “Because then it can get infected, and if it gets infected, you can lose your sight. I don’t want to mess around with that, so I’ll be wearing goggles until further notice.”
Jaylen Brown confirms that he plans to wear goggles tonight to protect his inflamed right eye. He says he may go with a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retro look. pic.twitter.com/7SdQFJCJ9h
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 8, 2017
After drawing the emergency start on Wednesday, Marcus Smart is likely to reassume his second unit energizer bunny role.
Meanwhile, San Antonio’s wing depth remains undermanned and will continue to play without Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Anderson. Tipoff is at 9:30 PM Eastern Standard Time, and will be available on ESPN and NBC Sports Boston.