BOSTON — The Celtics will not sit Jayson Tatum, Paul George, or Mitchell Robinson when they face the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night. All three players — who have dealt with major injuries in recent years — are available to play after also lacing up on Monday night against the Chicago Bulls.
The only players on Tuesday’s injury report are Devin Carter, who remains out with illness, and Derrick White, who is listed as probable with right hip synovitis.
Robinson typically did not play in both nights of back-to-backs as a member of the New York Knicks, but in an interview with Knicks Fan TV earlier this month, he made clear that would not be the case in Boston.
“It ain’t going to be the same in Boston [as it was with the Knicks]. I’ll be able to play back-to-backs,” Robinson said. “I’m very excited for that; it’s been a long time coming. Now I can go out there and play basketball, just go out there with a free mind and just hoop.”
George has also made clear he’s as healthy as he’s felt in years; he badly hyperextended his knee two years ago, and never fully recovered during his two-year stint with the Philadelphia 76ers.
“This summer really was a chance to continue to work: strengthen my body, strengthen my knee,” George said on Media Day. “It’s almost like a kind of rebirth, or reborn again — to be in a system, to be in a winning culture, a winning environment, and to feel good. To be able to work, to be able to train again in the summers — my summers the last couple of years were dedicated to rehab.”
Tatum, meanwhile, has looked like his old self so far this season after tearing his Achilles 17 months ago.
Joe Mazzulla did not specify Monday when asked how the team would manage back-to-backs.
“It just depends,” he said. “We trust the sports science team that we have, we trust the competition of those guys. At the same time, our locker room has built on 1-15, 16, or 17 being able to impact winning. It’s just a combination of all those things. At the end of the day, we have to do what gives us the best chance to win. At the same time, keep those guys healthy and validate the whole locker room by putting guys in situations where they gotta win games for us.”
The Celtics have gone with the same starting lineup every game so far
The Celtics have used the same starting lineup in all three full-strength preseason games and in their three regular-season games so far—a loss to the Detroit Pistons, a win over the New York Knicks, and a win over the Bulls. That lineup has consisted of Derrick White, Jordan Walsh, Jayson Tatum, Paul George, and Mitchell Robinson.
The Celtics play on the second night of a back-to-back after beating the Bulls 134-99 on Monday night at TD Garden. Pritchard exploded for 28 points in 21 minutes, while Tatum added 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Celtics-Nets tips off on Tuesday night at 7:30pm ET.
