Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis available for Celtics Friday night

Celtics

Brown and Porzingis both sat out of Boston’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford are all good to go for the Celtics. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

  • Some thoughts on the Celtics, taken one at a time

After missing Wednesday’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers, both Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown will play Friday night against the Toronto Raptors.

Both starters were deemed questionable on Thursday. Brown was battling a non-COVID illness while Porzingis had a right knee contusion. Al Horford was also on the injury report with a sprained toe, but was listed as probable.

On Friday evening, the Celtics announced that all three will be available against the Raptors.

Horford was a key defensive player with Porzingis out of the lineup on Wednesday. He recorded five blocks in the win. Boston had other players step up offensively to keep the Celtics’ scoring strong even without two of their stars. Derrick White notched 27 points and Jrue Holiday recorded 18, to go along with Jayson Tatum’s team-high 29.

Typically, Brown and Porzingis make their presence felt on the offensive end. Brown is second on the team in points per game (22.9) while Porzingis is third (19.7). Porzingis also leads the Celtics in blocks per game (1.3).

Now Boston’s unit will be back at full strength as it heads into a stretch of three games in four days. That tips off against Toronto at 7:40 p.m. Eastern Time Friday. The Celtics will then take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday and the Charlotte Hornets on Monday.