Celtics All-Star wing Jaylen Brown has seen his injury status upgraded ahead of Boston’s Sunday tilt against Oklahoma City. According to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter link), the 6’6″ forward will play his first game of 2025 after having been sidelined with a right shoulder strain since New Year’s Eve.
The 28-year-old has been in fine form when he has played for the 26-9 Celtics. Brown is averaging 24.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.4 steals per night through 28 healthy games, with shooting splits of .461/.332/.734. The reigning Finals MVP seems well on his way to earning the fourth All-Star berth of his career and should be in the mix for his second All-NBA spot.
As Noa Dalzell of CLNS Sports tweets, Brown’s availability marks the first time in 17 games that Boston will be fielding a fully healthy rotation.
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Knicks All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns seems to have dodged a major injury after exiting an eventual 139-126 Saturday loss to the Bulls late, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. Towns departed the game with just over 90 seconds remaining after being on the receiving end of a hard Nikola Vucevic foul while attempting a layup. He was able to walk under his own power, albeit with a noticeable limp. New York ultimately decided that additional testing was unnecessary. “I got hit,” Towns said. “I was going to go for a dunk. Saw [Coby White] was probably not going to give it to me, and then I switched hands, tried to do my best Michael Jordan impression… It hurt. Really all I saw was an and-one that was too late to help us win. Honest to God, I didn’t even know I made it.”
- Despite leading Chicago 72-63 at the break, the Knicks seemed to lose their verve in the second half, Bondy writes in another story for the New York Post. New York was outscored 41-17 in the third quarter and essentially never recovered. In fairness, the Knicks were playing the second game of a back-to-back set, having also lost to the West-leading Thunder on Friday. “Back-to-backs are part of the league,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said, conceding that his team losing steam could be the result of a Chicago energy advantage. “Couple that with [the Bulls] were off for three days. I knew they were going to be high energy. And I thought offensively we scored plenty. Defensively, we have to do better.
- First-year Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez heaped high praise on young two-way player Tyrese Martin on Saturday, writes Bridget Reilly of The New York Post. With forward Cameron Johnson and guards Cam Thomas, D’Angelo Russell and Ben Simmons injured, Brooklyn had to lean on its depth for help against the Sixers in a blowout loss Saturday. Martin chipped in 16 points, five boards and three dimes. “Tyrese has been great the whole year,” Fernandez said. “He’s been consistent. Consistent in the rotation, for the most part, and he’s taking advantage of his opportunities. It starts, not just right now, it starts in the summer. He was fighting for a two-way spot. He did all the right things every single day… And now he’s getting NBA minutes and doing a great job.”
Playing a back-to-back can’t be an excuse. You do what you need to do to keep your body and mind right. I’m not Knicks fan, but they definitely could have kept the Bulls down in that game. Need to bring it all 4 quarters.
I get that there are “no excuses” in this league but they played a very hard game in OKC, then traveled to Chicago. Add in the fact that they are thin on the bench (no Deuce, obviously no Mitch) and this loss doesn’t bother me that much as a fan. Plus Coby White seems to love playing against the Knicks.
Knicks were run down. Starters play too many mins. And without Miles not enough bench points.
Still I agree no excuses. It’s on players and Thibs. Love Thibs but he better get a bench scorer.
NYK just capitulated in the 4th Qtr, something I can’t remember seeing before from a Thibs coached team. Only lost by 13, but it was really worse than that. KAT was an animal on the offensive end to keep it from looking as bad as it was.
It’s the way the league has been this year. Too bad. NBA games already tend to devolve into glorified 3 point shooting contests, with limited defense permitted. When you add in “fake” defense for a quarter, it gets unwatchable.
You obviously weren’t watching when he was in Minnesota…
Happened plenty of times before and after the Bulter did Jimmy things…
Every Knicks starter played 40+ minutes in the first game of their back-to-back. The bench played a total of 30 minutes. Yet Thibs still can’t figure out why his teams are always gassed.
Same Thibs, different season.
The Thunder exposed the Knicks. If they can’t handle this now. They won’t in playoffs against a good team. In a seven gm series. Mitch helps our depth problem. But when will he be in game shape. And Knicks biggest need is a bench scorer.
Thunder, back to back has exposed them.
Been saying this for yrs now. Every team in NBA should be able to go 8-10 deep. Go small or go big. In today’s game you have to go small or big. So you have to go 8-10 deep. You can’t win the season and die out in the playoffs. You stay strong for playoffs. By using your bench and staying healthy.
There has to be a trade for bench scorer coming. Or forget being a true contender this yr.
February 6…….
When are the Knicks planning to give TJ Warren a try? The time is now