Getty Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart
The Boston Celtics head into Wednesday night’s crucial Eastern Conference matchup against the Toronto Raptors with a few injury question marks. There have been some positives on the team’s roster outlook ahead of the matchup, but the status of both Marcus Smart and Aron Baynes remains up in the air.
Heading into this game, the Celtics find themselves on a rough three-game losing streak but return home to start a stretch in which they’ll play seven of eight at the TD Garden. They sit with a 25-18 record which leaves them fifth in the East and seven games back of the first-place Raptors. At this point, Boston has work to do in order to catch the Philadelphia 76ers who hold the No. 4 spot and a three-game lead.
We’re going to take a look at the current state of the Celtics roster, their projected starting lineup and also the latest on Kyrie Irving, who’s expected back for this one.
Celtics Roster & Starting Lineup vs. Raptors
| Position | Expected Starter | Backup | |
| C | Al Horford | Aron Baynes | Robert Williams/Guerschon Yabusele |
| PF | Marcus Morris | Daniel Theis | Semi Ojeleye |
| SF | Jayson Tatum | Gordon Hayward | |
| SG | Marcus Smart | Jaylen Brown | |
| PG | Kyrie Irving | Terry Rozier | Brad Wanamaker |
While both Marcus Smart (illness) and Aron Baynes (hand) were listed as questionable, The Atheltic’s Jay King revealed both are available to play.
Marcus Smart and Aron Baynes are both available tonight, per the Celtics. Team missed Baynes’ presence quite a bit during his 13-game absence.
The big question is whether Baynes will return to the starting five, but that remains up in the air currently Based on how the timeline has played out, there’s also a good chance that Baynes was just recently cleared for contact so he may be eased back into action.
With Smart returning, it’ll shift Jaylen Brown back to a bench role and will likely cut into the minutes of Gordon Hayward as well. All three players will still see a decent amount of playing time, but Boston has a chance to be fairly close to full strength in this game.
Kyrie Irving Injury Update
The best update is apparently no update when it comes to Irving. After the All-Star guard missed the team’s last game, he’s been removed from the injury report ahead of Wednesday’s game. Irving was dealing with a quad injury and looks to be good to go for the nationally-televised matchup with the Raptors.
This update isn’t all that surprising, as John Karalis of MassLive revealed prior to Monday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets that Irving expected to return to face the Raptors.
“It’s literally a tight-ass knot in my right quad,” he said. “I’m probably going to need some dry-needling to get that spot out, but other than that take this one out and play against the Raptors.”
With Irving back in the starting five more than likely, it’ll mean that Terry Rozier shifts back to his role as a key member of the second unit.
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