The Celtics have a chance to close out the Orlando Magic and punch their ticket to the second round of the NBA playoffs for the fourth straight year — and the eighth time in the last nine seasons — with a win in Game 5 on Tuesday night at TD Garden. But they’ll have to do it shorthanded.
Jrue Holiday has been ruled out and will miss his third straight game with a right hamstring strain, while Jaylen Brown is listed as questionable with a right knee posterior impingement.
The injury for Holiday first popped up heading into Game 3 after he played 36 minutes in Game 2, finishing with 11 points, six assists, four rebounds, and a block. He played the entire fourth quarter.
Joe Mazzulla labeled him day-to-day.
Holiday was initially listed as questionable for Game 3 before being downgraded to out. He was ruled out the day before Game 4. He did not warm up on the court before Game 3 or Game 4 in Orlando and was not seen on the floor during the portion of shootarounds open to the media, either.
“Obviously, you can’t replace what Jrue Holiday brings on both sides of the ball — so everybody has a little bit of a different role and responsibility on both sides,” Derrick White said. “Jrue is a special player. Obviously, we are a better team with him.”
The Celtics have been much better with Holiday on the floor this series, outscoring the Magic by 19.2 points per 100 possessions. Defensively, they’ve posted a 102.4 rating with the six-time All-Defensive guard on the floor, ranking second in the postseason behind only Oklahoma City.
“The intangibles are endless,” Mazzulla said on Holiday. “The mentality that he plays with. The selflessness that he plays with. The physicality, the toughness, and defensive versatility. His ability to guard different possessions, his ability to pressure the basketball, his ability to take tendencies from individuals and just make winning plays, whether it’s our offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, screening, another ball handler to have out there versus pressure, and then in transition he can create advantages for others with his screening and his pace.”
Brown, meanwhile, was listed as questionable for both Games 3 and 4 — but played in both. The All-NBA wing noted that the knee injury is something he’ll have to manage throughout the postseason. He finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds in Game 4, notching his second double-double of the playoffs, which ties his career-high.
The Celtics, who used 33 different starting lineups this season, getting just 24 games from their full starting five (Derrick White, Holiday, Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Kristaps Porzingis), have only had their starting five together in Game 1.
They’ll look to end this physical series and maximize some potential rest by wrapping it up in Game 5, which tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET at TD Garden.
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