The Celtics' leading scorer is being held out of Thursday night's game against the Wizards with an illness, just one day before Boston's big game against the Lakers.
On Thursday, the Celtics (12-9) announced guard Jaylen Brown would be out for their game in Washington against the Wizards (3-17) with an illness.
Brown is the only player listed on the injury report as of publishing, meaning the rest of the roster will be good to go for tip-off at Capital One Arena.
This will be the first game Brown has missed this season, having started each of Boston’s first 21 games of the 2025-26 season - playing big minutes each time out as the team’s leading scorer at 29 points per game. That points-per-game-total is good for eighth-best in the NBA as of publishing.
He’s also filling up the stat sheet elsewhere, dishing out 4.8 assists and grabbing 6 rebounds per game. On Sunday in Cleveland, he recorded his first triple-double of the season while tying his fourth-lowest point total of the season - 19 points, 11 assists, 12 rebounds in 38 minutes.
Thursday marks the first night of a back-to-back for the Celtics, as they head back to Boston for a Friday night game against their arch rivals in the Lakers (15-5)
Regardless of the Lakers’ record, it’s a big deal any time Los Angeles and Boston play each other. But with the Lakers sitting in second-place in the Western Conference with players like Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves humming, it raises everything to another level.
Oh yeah, they have that LeBron guy, too.
I’m not suggesting that Brown isn’t actually sick. That truly may be the case. But the combination of not missing a single game this season, the Lakers on deck, plus the Wizards being among the worst teams in the NBA makes this the perfect opportunity for Brown to get back to 100% health-wise, if that’s truly what he needs.
What’s the illness? That we don’t know. All we know is that it’s “non-COVID,” which they still have to list with an illness distinction despite being post-pandemic.
Brown’s status for Thursday’s game has slightly shifted the odds for this one, as they are now a 9.5-point favorite against the Wizards instead of a 10.5-point favorite.
As we get closer to tip-off, that number is sure to move, as Brown has by far and away been Boston’s most reliable scorer all season long. The like of Payton Pritchard and Derrick White should now see an increased workload offensively.
Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.