For the Boston Celtics tonight, Paul George is set to make his fifth consecutive start in the Celtics’ fifth game of the season, while the player Boston traded away to get him, Jaylen Brown, will miss the Philadelphia 76ers game against the New York Knicks. ESPN’s Kris Rhim reported that Brown has been downgraded to “out” for the game.
Meanwhile, the Celtics injury report remains clean, except for newly acquired guard Devin Carter who has missed every game with a mononucleosis diagnosis.
According to Rhim, the 76ers said that Brown will miss the Friday game with “left patellar knee injury,” confirming what was reported earlier in the day, when Brown was designated as “doubtful” due to “left patellar tendinopathy, aka left knee soreness,” according to NBA insider Brett Siegel.
The official NBA injury report also lists Brown with left patellar tendinopathy ahead of the 7:30 p.m. ET tip at Xfinity Mobile Arena, with Amazon Prime Video carrying the broadcast. Brown was listed as questionable Thursday with left knee soreness. He had played in all five Sixers games, averaging 20.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists in roughly 36 minutes per game.
Philadelphia also lists Dominick Barlow (low back stress reaction), Tacko Fall (left quadriceps strain) and Jabari Walker (left patellar tendinopathy) as out, while Ariel Hukporti is done for the season with a torn right Achilles tendon. Joel Embiid and LeBron James do not appear on the report, with a back-to-back set at Charlotte on Saturday, according to PhillyVoice.
Boston’s report for the Celtics’ game at home against the Chicago Bulls tells a different story. The Celtics list one name for their game against the Chicago Bulls, and that’s Carter, out with mono since the preseason opener Oct. 8, with no return date, according to the Boston Herald.
Derrick White’s one-day listing, probable with right hip synovitis for the second night of a back-to-back Oct. 27 against Brooklyn, is the only other designation all season. But White played in that game anyway.
Jayson Tatum (Achilles recovery), Paul George and Mitchell Robinson, all with recent injury histories, have played in every game with no injury designations.
Brown’s Injury History Includes Late-Season Absences
Brown’s lower-body trouble stretches back years and has surfaced at pivotal moments. A right knee impingement and partial meniscus tear cost him time late in the 2024-25 regular season. He then played all 11 playoff games for Boston, averaging about 22 points after receiving injections, and later said he had played through a partially torn meniscus rather than sit out. Surgery followed in the offseason.
Right hamstring problems sidelined him in 2020 and 2021. A left wrist ligament injury in 2021 ended his regular season and kept him out of the first-round series against Brooklyn.
Despite the 2021 absence, Brown almost always plays in postseason games, including during the 2024 title run that earned him Finals MVP honors. Yet recurring knee and soft-tissue problems have produced load management, late-season absences and games played through pain.
Jaylen Brown Trade Contrasts Celtics, 76ers Health
Boston sent Brown to Philadelphia this summer for George and two first-round picks, plus two second-rounders, a deal that ended his decade-long partnership with Tatum. The picks include a 2028 first with swap rights and an unprotected 2031 first. Brown has denied demanding a trade from Boston. He said he only sought input on his destination after the Celtics decided to move him amid talks involving Giannis Antetokounmpo.
George has played every game, averaging 22.3 points for the Celtics, and said he feels healthier than during his 76ers stint, when knee trouble and a suspension limited him to 78 regular-season games over two years. He is 36, with a long injury record.
Brown is 30, the younger of the two, and ranked among the league leaders in minutes before the knee flared.
Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Trade Looks Different After Latest 76ers Injury News