Jaylen Brown will miss his first game of the season on Thursday night when the Boston Celtics face the Washington Wizards on the road. “Celtics Injury Report Update for tonight at WAS: Jaylen Brown – Illness (Non-Covid) – OUT,” the Celtics official account posted on X. Brown and guard Payton Pritchard are the only Boston players to start each of the team’s first 21 games this season, while fellow guard Anfernee Simons and forward Sam Hauser are the only others to suit up in every contest thus far. Coming off a huge 42-point effort in Tuesday’s win against the New York Knicks, it makes sense for the Celtics to hold out their best player vs. the lowly Wizards. Story continues below advertisement Washington enters Thursday’s game with the worst record in the Eastern Conference at 3-17. Thursday’s contest in the nation’s capital is also the first half of a back-to-back, as Boston will host the rival Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. JB’s durability this fall has been especially crucial in the absence of fellow All-Star Jayson Tatum. Brown’s reliability has been particularly impressive too, as he suffered a hamstring strain during the Celtics’ preseason finale. Story continues below advertisement The 29-year-old is having a huge season so far, averaging career highs in points (29.0) and assists per game (4.8) while posting a .499/.347/.772 shooting line.