Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
Jaylen Brown has been ruled out for the Boston Celtics game against the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, March 29. Brown is dealing with Achilles tendonitis in his left leg.
This will be the second straight game Brown has missed due to tendonitis, having sat out Boston’s 109-102 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, March 27.
Nikola Vucevic is the only other member of the Celtics roster to be officially ruled out for Sunday’s game. Neemias Queta is currently listed as “probable,” while Derrick White is “questionable.”
Jayson Tatum, who was previously listed as “questionable,” has been upgraded to “available.” Sunday will be the second consecutive game where Tatum is set to lead Boston’s offense without Brown as his running mate. This will be Tatum’s 11th game of the season following his nearly 300-day absence due to a torn Achilles.
Brown’s absence will undoubtedly hit the Celtics hard. The explosive forward has been the team’s best player, piecing together a career year. In 65 games, Brown is averaging 28.6 points, 7 rebounds and 5.2 assists, shooting 47.7% from the field and 34.2% from deep.
Boston Celtics’ Brown Has Hit The 65-Game Mark
Brown is under no pressure to play in any of the Boston Celtics remaining nine games. He’s already met the 65-game threshold necessary to make an All-NBA team, and to be in the running for the MVP award.
As such, the Celtics can be a little more cautious with one of their star players heading into the playoffs. Boston is currently 1.5 games ahead of the New York Knicks in the second seed. They could potentially rest Brown for non-key games over the coming weeks.
After all, if the Celtics are going to continue their Cinderella-type season, they will need both Brown and Tatum at close to their best. Furthermore, by ruling Brown out, Tatum will get some much-needed reps as the primary option on offense.
Tatum is still working his way back to full fitness. His shooting has been patchy in his first 10 games back. Without Brown, he will have some additional shot volume to help try to knock the rust off.
Jaylen Brown Has “Full Belief” In Jayson Tatum
For years, the media and some sections of the Celtics’ fanbase have questioned whether Tatum and Brown can co-exist on the same team. You would have thought those questions would have stopped when the Celtics won a championship in 2024.
Yet, when Tatum was gearing up for his return from injury, that narrative once again took center stage. Given Tatum’s struggles with scoring efficiency since his return, Brown recently threw his support behind his All-NBA teammate.
“I got full belief in Jayson Tatum. And I got full belief in our team,” Brown said during a recent Twitch stream. “We just got to keep our connectivity,” he continued. “And handle our adversity the right way. Everything ain’t always gonna go your way in life — you’ve gotta remember that. Everything ain’t always gonna go your way.”
If Tatum can get back to 70% of his former self before the postseason, and Brown continues to play at an MVP level, Boston will be a serious threat to come out of the Eastern Conference.
If resting Brown for some games down the stretch makes that possible, then Celtics fans everywhere will be willing to get behind the decision.
Adam Taylor is a basketball reporter covering the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Miami Heat for Heavy. He holds bylines for CelticsBlog, USA Today and Yardbarker. Adam also covers the WWE and AEW. He has a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Open University. More about Adam Taylor
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