Celtics

‘Definitely a big blow for our group’: Jaylen Brown could miss two weeks with hamstring injury

"You can’t replace a lot of the things that Jaylen can do."

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown aims a free throw during the first half of an NBA basketball game. AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

By Tom Westerholm

November 8, 2021

Celtics star Jaylen Brown could miss 1-2 weeks with a hamstring injury, according to coach Ime Udoka.

Brown hurt his hamstring against the Heat — an injury that has bothered him in the past. Basketball players in particular need to be careful of their hamstrings to avoid further injury when exploding down the court or off the ground.

“He’ll be assessed, timeline looking like a week or two right now — hamstring strain,” Udoka said. “We’ll know more in a week or two, but right now he’s out for a week or two. That’s a broad timeline.”

The Celtics play the Raptors, Bucks, Cavaliers (twice), Hawks, Lakers, Thunder and Rockets over the next two weeks.

Udoka acknowledged the history of Brown’s hamstring injuries.

“He knows his body pretty well, and he said it didn’t feel terrible but he did feel it,” Udoka said. “Obviously the tightness kept him out of the rest of the Miami game and [in Dallas], so it was something he had to get looked at. The strain showed a week or two, and he knew something. He was being overly cautious himself because of his past history.”

Brown is averaging 25.6 points on 49.3 percent shooting and 39.7 percent from 3-point range. In 291 minutes this season, the Celtics are 16.2 points per 100 possessions better with Brown on the floor, per Cleaning the Glass.

“That’s definitely a big blow for our group,” Al Horford said. “Jaylen, who’s playing so well, I feel like starting to get his legs underneath him and getting a good feel for everything. And now, for us, we just kind of have to rally around it and this is going to give opportunities for other guys to step in and contribute a little more. You can’t replace a lot of the things that Jaylen can do, but we just have to figure it out as a group when these kind of things happen, and our team has to come more together as a group.”