A pair of depleted Atlantic Division rivals will square off Thursday night at TD Garden.
The Celtics, coming off a 122-112 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, ruled out Jaylen Brown (right knee posterior impingement), Jrue Holiday (mallet finger), Kristaps Porzingis (illness) and Al Horford (left big toe sprain) for their home matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Boston listed Jayson Tatum (right shoulder impingement) and Sam Hauser (right ankle sprain) as questionable.
Brown, Horford and Hauser all played in the win over Portland, during which Derrick White and Payton Pritchard became [the first Celtics duo ever](https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/03/05/payton-pritchard-derrick-white-make-nba-history-as-celtics-beat-trail-blazers/) to score 40-plus points in the same game (and the first set of NBA teammates to each make nine or more 3-pointers). Hauser limped off the court after landing awkwardly late in the game.
Tatum sat out — the first DNP for the durable six-time All-Star since Dec. 23 — as did Holiday and Porzingis, who both will miss their fourth straight game Thursday.
The absences will lead to larger roles for Boston’s stable of bench players. Against Portland, second-year pro Jordan Walsh was the biggest beneficiary, seeing his largest workload since Dec. 27 and second-largest of the season. Walsh played 21 minutes in the win, finishing with three points, six rebounds, one assist and one block. Three of his rebounds came on the offensive end.
“With guys out, opportunity is there,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said postgame. “His ability to defend in individual defense, these guys do a great job of breaking guys down, and he’s really gotten better at that, and we needed someone who offensive rebounds. I think he got two big ones in the first half, I think he ended up with one more there, so just continuing to get better. It’s an opportunity to get him out there and make sure he continues to grow defensively and rebounding.”
The 76ers’ injury report was similarly lengthy. Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Kyle Lowry, Eric Gordon and Jared McCain all were ruled out, with Paul George and Justin Edwards listed as questionable.
After Thursday’s game, the Celtics will have one day off before welcoming LeBron James, Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers to Causeway Street in one of the most anticipated games on their schedule.