Boston Celtics Announce Surprising Injury Report For Game 1 vs 76ers

The Boston Celtics head into Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers as clear favorites. 

The Celtics are also among the favorites to make it through the Eastern Conference even more so with all their pieces available for selection.

A full healthy roster could position Boston for a short series even against a tough Philadelphia side. 

The Celtics confirmed Saturday that their health status is a clean slate, which is a rather surprising development given what happened over the regular season.

This is surely a boost entering the opening game of the playoffs. 

Boston Celtics Overcoming Injury Problems

The Celtics’ clean slate will be one of the big storylines before Game 1. 

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are both healthy and locked in, making them suddenly more complete than they did during a season in which they performed incredibly well.

Tatum only played 16 times this season because he was recovering from a torn Achilies tendon injury suffered in last year’s playoffs. The forward recovered remarkably fast and has already gotten up to speed before the postseason, though he isn’t fully at his level yet. 

That is an added plus to a team that finished No. 2 with Tatum and now heads into Game 1 without any injury absentees.

“Injury Report for tomorrow vs. PHI: No injuries to report,” Boston’s official X account wrote. 

Brown, who carried much of the load in Tatum’s absence, dealt with his own late-season injury concerns. 

GettyBoston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown dribbles the ball in a game against the Nets. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

He missed a handful of games towards the conclusion of the regular season, sparking some worry heading into the playoffs. But the 28-year-old Boston star returned to practice this week looking sharp and in peak form, erasing any doubts on his health.

Last year, Brown had nagging issues that affected the final parts of the regular season and into the playoffs. He played through a partially torn meniscus in his right knee and featured in all 11 playoff games. 

He eventually had surgery during the offseason, but the Celtics didn’t stand a chance with his nagging issues and then Tatum’s injury as well. 

Positive Health Status Will Prove Vital 

The Celtics have been largely durable this season. Seven players appeared in more than 70 games during the regular season, and that has been the secret to their consistency under head coach Joe Mazzulla, a front runner in the Coach of the Year race.

He has been forced to do very few tweaks, which should carry into the postseason. The supporting core of Payton Pritchard as well as Derrick White all played major minutes this season and will be available as well. 

The Sixers on the other hand will be without Joel Embiid for tomorrow’s clash. They earned the first-round tie through the play-in tournament. 

Despite playing without their star center for most parts of the season, his experience will be missed and Boston will do well to take advantage of that.  

Game 1 tips off Sunday at TD Garden as the Celtics look to erase last year’s disappointing second round exit with a deeper run this season. 

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