The Boston Celtics released their injury report for their upcoming game against the Washington Wizards. Robert Williams III and Danilo Gallinari are listed as they have been and will be until further notice, but a new name showed up on the list: Malcolm Brogdon.
#NEBHInjuryReport for tomorrow vs. Washington:
Malcolm Brogdon (right low back stiffness) – QUESTIONABLE
Danilo Gallinari (left knee ACL repair) – OUT
Robert Williams (left knee surgery) – OUT
Brogdon came to the Celtics already having a reputation for being injury-prone. Before being traded to Boston, Brogdon played 54, 56, and 36 games in his three seasons with the Indiana Pacers. Brogdon may have been putting up some of his best numbers as a pro with the Pacers, but it came at the cost of his availability.
That’s why the Celtics have also been conservative with the minutes he’s played. Brogdon played over 30 minutes a game on average in all three seasons that he played for the Pacers, while the Celtics have played him 22.8 minutes in the five games he’s played thus far.
The Celtics are being cautious with Brogdon much like how they’re being cautious with Al Horford because they want the two of them to be physically ready for when the stakes become much higher in the playoffs.
The Celtics will provide more updates on Brogdon’s health status before they take on the Wizards on October 30.
Brogdon’s Thoughts on the Cavaliers’ Loss
When the Celtics faced off against the Cleveland Cavaliers, they were going up against one of the more talented frontcourts in the league with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. To combat those two, the Celtics ultimately went bigger by playing two of Horford, Luke Kornet, Noah Vonleh, and Blake Griffin.
Playing bigger led to their guards like Brogdon playing fewer minutes, who played 22. After the game, Brogdon said it was ultimately up to Interim Head Coach Joe Mazzulla to make those decisions
“Our coaches’ decision-making to figure out who the third guard on the floor is going to be when we go big,” Brogdon said. “I think Cleveland is a special team in the league because they have multiple talented, physical, skilled bigs that they’re going to play two at a time. So, it forces you to either go small and run and beat them up and down the court, and play a fast-paced game against them, or to match their size and play a traditional two-big lineup. Last night we tried to match their size. So, we’ll continue to make adjustments.”
Brogdon on Celtics’ Defense
With the Celtics’ struggling defensively thus far, Brogdon attributed their issues to consistency and how he thinks they can fix them.
“I think clearly our offense is impacting our defense, and really, it should be the other way around. We should be defending. That should be our priority every night. I think we have moments where we’re great defensively, and then I think that we have moments where we have lapses and breakdowns on and off the ball, whether we’re switching, whether we’re not rebounding, finishing plays, getting contested shots. I think we’re having too many breakdowns right now, and it’s an issue of consistency,” Brogdon said.
The fewest number of points the Celtics have given up in a game this season was to the Miami Heat when they gave up 104 points. Besides that, they’ve allowed 117 points or more.
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Injury-Prone Celtics Star’s Status in Question: Report