Jaylen Brown, Semi Ojeleye and Javonte Green all ruled out against MIA; Cs to have 8 active players

The list of players available tonight against the Miami Heat and for the foreseeable future is officially shorter than the injury report. Ravaged by COVID-19, the Celtics need all 8 available players to suit up for tonight’s game against Miami in order for the game to not be postponed. This is . . . not ideal.

The injury report is so long that I had to actually spend time trying to format it best here. I won’t lie to you folks, this does not look good! The players ruled out for Boston include its two best players – Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown – along with basically most of the rotation – Tristan Thompson, Grant Williams, Robert Williams, Semi Ojeleye and Javonte Green. Additionally, Kemba Walker and Romeo Langford remain out due to injury recovery.

This leaves Marcus Smart to be the Celtics’ best player. His supporting cast tonight includes Jeff Teague, Payton Pritchard, Tremont Waters, Carsen Edwards, Tacko Fall, Daniel Theis, and Aaron Nesmith. For everyone asking for more Nesmith minutes, tonight’s game is going to be the perfect thing for you!

This game tonight could either be wildly entertaining or deeply painful. There’s only one way to find out. Thankfully, Robert Williams, Grant Williams and Tristan Thompson should be coming back at some point in the coming week as well as Kemba Walker’s imminent return hopefully by Friday against Orlando. To get there, though, Boston will have to survive three games over the next four days with essentially no frontcourt.

The shorthanded Celtics will take on the Miami Heat tonight (who will be missing Avery Bradley due to health and safety protocols as well) at 7:30 PM EST on NBATV.