Celtics' Jaylen Brown Suffers Hand Injury on Broken Vase; Will Return for Playoffs

Boston Celtics shooting guard Jaylen Brown received five stitches in his right hand Thursday.

Brown, who's averaging a career-best 26.6 points per game this season, expects to be ready for the playoffs, The Athletic's Jared Weiss reported Friday.

The star knocked over a glass vase while watering his plants and cut his hand while picking it up, according to Weiss. He spoke to reporters with his hand wrapped in gauze.

Boston will expect Brown to play a key role in the playoffs, as it has already clinched the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Brown will miss the Celtics' final two games of the regular season against the Toronto Raptors on Friday and the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla seemed unconcerned about Brown's injury ahead of Friday's game.

"Just got a cut on his finger," Mazzulla told reporters. "Expect him to be fine, nothing serious."

Because the Celtics are already locked in to their playoff spot, Brown's missed regular-season contests will have no impact on Boston's ranking.

Brown and small forward Jayson Tatum have served as Boston's offensive core since 2019. Both scorers have put up over 20 points per game for the past four seasons, and both reached career-high averages (Tatum with 30.2 points, Brown with 26.6) during the 2022-23 campaign.

Last year, the one-two punch of Tatum and Brown was potent enough to get the Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals.

If Boston wants to repeat that deep run this year, the team is going to need Brown at full capacity.

The Celtics will also be without point guard and 2021-22 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart on Friday. Smart is sitting out for the second straight game because of a neck spasm. Mazzulla said the team does not expect the injuries suffered by Smart or Brown to last into the playoffs.