The Cavaliers are short-handed, while the Celtics have positive news on the health front ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Eastern Conference’s third seed.
The Boston Celtics enter Tuesday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on an 11-game winning run. This is the most consecutive victories any NBA club has had this season.
During this span, the C’s are not just beating, but bludgeoning their opponents. They’ve won the past five games by an average of 30.2 points. This includes a 52-point blowout of the Golden State Warriors, who had won 11 of their previous 13 games.
They also defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 138-110. Luka Doncic and co. had won eight of their previous ten games.
Kristaps Porzingis, who suffered a left quad contusion that night when Dante Exum kneed him in the leg while going up for a layup, will return to the lineup on Tuesday after missing Sunday’s victory over the Warriors.
Jaylen Brown was left clutching his left knee after colliding with Draymond Green in Sunday’s rout of Golden State, but the newly crowned Eastern Conference Player of the Week, who had been listed as questionable for this game in Cleveland due to a left knee contusion, will also play.
The Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell, who has missed the last two games, had a PRP injection to address a bone injury in his left knee. That will keep him out for at least three more games, including this one.
They’re also missing another starter on the perimeter, with Max Strus (right knee strain) out for the first time this season.
The game between Boston, which leads the NBA standings with a 48-12 record, and Cleveland, which is third in the East with a 39-21 record, will start at 7:30 EST on Tuesday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
