Boston Celtics’ star Jaylen Brown sprained his ankle three minutes into his team’s 107-98 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.
“Offensively it felt like we were a little – I don’t know, shell-shocked with Jaylen going out,” Celtics’ head coach Ime Udoka said after the game, via NBA.com.
“We kind of had to figure out how we were going to attack it, and Derrick was a huge part of that.”
Newly-acquired guard Derrick White stepped in to fill in for Brown.
“Derrick was huge handling, scoring, distributing, defensively – all the way around,” Udoka said.
“So it was huge to have a guy like him ready on a night when Jaylen goes out.”
Second-year guard/forward Aaron Nesmith also played well in in Brown’s absence.
“Aaron [Nesmith] impacted the game without making a shot tonight,” Udoka said.
“He did it with his physicality, defense, and energy.”
Celtics’ head coach Ime Udoka seemed optimistic that Brown’s injury wouldn’t sideline him for long.
https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1498862076986642441
The Celtics certainly hope to have Brown back for national TV games on Thursday (against the Memphis Grizzlies) and Sunday (against the Brooklyn Nets).