The Celtics could possibly be lacking two key bench gamers once they go to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday.
Already with out second-string heart Nikola Vucevic, who’s recovering from the fractured finger he suffered final week, Boston additionally listed sixth man Payton Pritchard as questionable for Tuesday’s recreation with a neck spasm.
Pritchard has been a hit-or-miss scorer of late, notching single-digit level totals in 4 of his final eight video games, together with goose eggs towards Philadelphia and Charlotte. He’s coming off back-to-back 18-point outings, nevertheless, and scored 9 fourth-quarter factors Sunday to assist the Celtics maintain off a late rally of their 109-98 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The 28-year-old guard began the primary 48 video games he performed this season earlier than shifting again to the bench when the Celtics traded third guard Anfernee Simons to purchase Vucevic. Since that transfer, final season’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year is averaging 17.3 factors and 5.7 assists in 32.3 minutes per recreation whereas capturing 47.8% from the sector and 39.4% from 3-point vary.
Pritchard dealt with a finger injury earlier this season, however he’s missed only one of Boston’s 64 video games, sitting out a Jan. 17 win over Atlanta with ankle soreness.
Vucevic underwent surgery over the weekend to restore his fractured ring finger and isn’t anticipated to miss at the very least three weeks. Jayson Tatum has not appeared on the Celtics’ injury report since returning from Achilles surgery final Friday.
Boston is within the midst of probably the most difficult stretch of its remaining schedule — a three-game highway journey that started Sunday in Cleveland and concludes Thursday in Oklahoma City. The 47-17 Spurs and 50-15 Thunder rank second and first, respectively, within the NBA’s general standings, and third and first in web score. The 43-21 Celtics personal the league’s fourth-best file and second-best web score, they usually have received 14 of their final 17 video games.
