Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce out for Celtics-Heat

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are out vs. the Heat on Friday. (Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images)

The Boston Celtics tweeted on Thursday afternoon that Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce will sit out Friday's matchup in Miami against the Heat.

Garnett and Pierce will travel with the team for the two-game road trip against the Heat and then the Orlando Magic, but both will sit out the Heat game because it's a back-to-back. The Celtics return to Boston for their final home game of the season against the Indiana Pacers before closing out the season against the Raptors in Toronto.

Both players are dealing with ankle issues as Garnett has sat out eight games this season because of inflammation in his ankles while Pierce has missed two games recently citing sore ankles. The team is 0-3 without Pierce this season and appears headed for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, which will mean a first-round match up against the New York Knicks, their Atlantic Division rivals.

The Celtics-Heat game will also be absent of a number of stars on Miami's side. LeBron James is expected to be a game time decision, as he announced this week that he will sit some of the final games of the regular season to prepare for the playoffs, which begin April 21. Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem sat out Wednesday night's win against the Washington Wizards with various injuries as well.