The Celtics will be near full-strength when they face the Phoenix Suns on Monday night. Jayson Tatum, who returned to action on March 6th, will play in his fifth game of the season and appears to continue to be trending upwards.
Additionally, Derrick White (knee contusion) and Baylor Scheierman (sprained ankle) are both not on the injury report after appearing on it ahead of Saturday’s game against the Washington Wizards. White missed one game with the knee injury — a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder
last week — but he did not appear compromised on Saturday.
But Nikola Vucevic will miss his fifth straight game as he recovers from a fractured right ring finger. Vucevic was on the sidelines for Saturday’s game, with a large wrap around his hand. The Celtics said on March 7th that he was expected to be re-evaluated in 3 to 4 weeks, meaning he’s effectively out for the rest of the month.
After taking Thursday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder off, Jayson Tatum played 32 minutes in Sunday’s game, eclipsing 27 minutes for the first time.
“I knew that my minutes would go up a little bit this week, and that’s just kind of the progression,” Tatum said. “I was playing 27 minutes the first three games, they go up a little bit for a week or so, see how you respond. Obviously, I’ve been responding really well and feeling great the next day and after the games. And we just go from there.”
For the Suns, Dillon Brooks continues to be sidelined after breaking his hand, while Mark Williams is out with a left foot stress fracture.
How the Celtics, Suns stack up
The Celtics are 44-23, owners of the East’s second-best record. They have the league’s third-best net rating (+7.8), its second-best offense (119.6 rating), and its fifth-best defense (111.7 rating).
The Suns are 39-28, and have the West’s 7th-best record. They have the NBA’s 14th-best net rating (+1.3), its 18th-best offense (114 rating), and its 9th-best defense (112.8 rating).
The Suns have been led by Devin Booker (25.4 points, 6 assists), Jalen Green (17.4 points), Grayson Allen (17.3 points, 4.2 assists), and Collin Gilespie (13.2 points, 4.8 assists).
The two teams have faced off once this season, on February 24th, with the Celtics coming away with a 97-81 win in Phoenix.
The Celtics are coming off a 111-100 win over the Washington Wizards; the Suns are coming off a 122-115 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Celtics-Suns will tip off at 7:30pm ET on Monday night at TD Garden.
