76ers Playoff Watch: Celtics' Jaylen Brown Suffers Season-Ending Injury
The 2020-2021 NBA season just hasn't been an ideal year for the Boston Celtics. Last year, Boston entered the NBA Playoffs as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Led by notable stars Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kemba Walker, the Celtics managed to clinch the third seed in the East.
Boston took care of business when they faced the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round down in the bubble. Although the Sixers were shorthanded without Ben Simmons, the Celtics offered Philly no chance to advance as they swept the Sixers in no time.
At that point, it seemed the Celtics had a bright future ahead of them. But the 2020-2021 season has been full of disappointments for Boston. At this point in the year, the Celtics are barely in the playoff picture. With a 35-33 record, the Celtics sit in the seventh seed. In previous years, they'd be on their way to clinching a spot in the playoffs, but it's not as easy for borderline playoff teams this year.
Next week, Boston could be a part of the NBA's new play-in format, and they'll have to go through it without one of their cornerstone players. On Monday, the team found out Jaylen Brown has suffered a significant injury, which will end his season.
According to ESPN's Tim Bontemps, Brown has a torn scapholunate ligament in his left wrist and will miss the remainder of the season. In 58 games this season, Brown averaged a career-high of 24 points per game while hitting on 48-percent of his field-goal attempts and draining 39-percent of his shots from three.
The young veteran's absence will surely shake up the Celtics' progress moving forward as they have four games left on the year. It's unclear how the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs will look right now, but there is a chance the Sixers could face the Celtics again. Except for this time, the Celtics could be the ones who are shorthanded.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.
