KEY POINTS
- Jaylen Brown's absence puts the Celtics in a grim spot for the playoffs
- Brad Stevens' position as head coach is in great danger
- The Celtics need to find someone who could fill the void left by Brown
The Boston Celtics have struggled this NBA season, and it appears head coach Brad Stevens will need to dig deeper.
Following reports that Jaylen Brown is out for the rest of the season, the Cs are more than likely to end up in the play-in tournament unless they find a way to work around it.
On Monday, the 24-year-old Celtics swingman was diagnosed with a torn scapholunate ligament in his left wrist.
He is scheduled to undergo this week and has been officially ruled out for the rest of the season.
There is no denying that with Brown out of the rotation, the Celtics took a big blow in making a good run in the 2020-21 NBA playoffs.
The third overall pick of the 2106 NBA Draft earned his first All-Star nod this season and has been averaging 24.7 points, six rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 58 games.
With four regular NBA season games left, the immediate goal for the Celtics is to avoid the play-in tournament.
They are coming off a loss to the Miami Heat and will face the same team on Tuesday night.
Other assignments for the Beantown squad include the Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves and the surging New York Knicks.
#NEBHInjuryReport This past weekend Celtics forward Jaylen Brown was diagnosed with a torn scapholunate ligament in his left wrist. Brown is expected to have the torn ligament surgically repaired later this week, and will be out for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics)
Boston needs to win over the Heat who are two games ahead of them. A loss would be detrimental and something that may officially relegate them to the play-in tournament.
Looking ahead, Stevens’ job is also likely to be monitored. The performance of the Celtics is far from comforting this season, and there are suggestions of him getting fired.
Boston's Jaylen Brown dunks on the way to scoring 30 points in the Celtics' 118-102 NBA victory over the Raptors in Toronto Photo: GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Vaughn Ridley
But for now, his biggest problem is making the NBA playoffs and hopefully steer his team to a respectable finish.
