Jaylen Brown’s right ankle sprain will keep him out of the starting lineup for the Boston Celtics’ game against the Miami Heat on Sunday.
A key component of the Celtics offence is gone from the team with Brown’s third consecutive absence. Throughout the season, he has averaged 24.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.
The Celtics are playing the Heat for the sixth seed in the 2017 NBA playoffs, so this hole in their lineup comes at a critical moment. With five games remaining in each team’s regular season schedule, the Heat lead the Celtics by one game going into Sunday’s match.
Because the seventh through tenth seeds in each conference will have to compete in a play-in tournament that might suddenly end a team’s season, the seeding is extremely important.
The two clubs will play two straight games in Boston starting on Sunday, with the second meeting scheduled for Tuesday night.
