Jaylen Brown Will Miss 1-2 Weeks With A Hamstring Strain

The Boston Celtics stumbled out of the gate to start the season at 2-5 and it didn’t take long for frustrations to become apparent. Marcus Smart called out Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for not wanting to pass late in games and allowing the offense to be too predictable, which in turn resulted in the players getting together for a tense meeting in Orlando.

Since then the Celtics have played better, picking up a pair of wins in Florida before losing a heartbreaker to the Mavs, and it seemed as though they might be pulling themselves from the funk they were in the first two weeks. However, the task to continue their climb out of the early hole they put themselves in will only get more difficult, as they will spend the next week or two without the services of Jaylen Brown, who is sidelined with a hamstring strain.

Brown has been one of the true bright spots for the Celtics this season, averaging 25.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game on 49.3/39.7/78.0 shooting splits. Without Brown, Boston will be hoping that Jayson Tatum can shake free of his early slump and they will need guys like Smart and Dennis Schröder to take on a bigger scoring load. If there is some good news it is that the schedule this week isn’t particularly heavy, as Boston is off until Wednesday when they play host to the Raptors, followed by the Bucks on Friday and a trip to Cleveland for games Saturday and Monday. It’s possible Brown would only miss those four games, but if his injury keeps him out on the longer end of the timetable given, he could miss three or four more games with games against the Hawks, Lakers, Thunder, and Rockets coming the following week.