BOSTON — The Boston Celtics are expected to gain some key reinforcements for Wednesday’s night divisional tilt against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Robert Williams and Dennis Schroder are both expected to be back in the lineup for Boston. Williams has played just one game in the last three weeks due to a knee injury and flu-like symptoms over the past three games. Schroder missed Sunday’s win over the Raptors with a sprained ankle.
“Everybody is looking good,” Ime Udoka said after Tuesday’s practice. “This could be one of the first, one of the few times we have our squad back fully. Injury front wise, the flu, guys that were out with that are good to go, as you saw with Josh, and Rob is hopeful as well. Dennis, the ankle got a chance to rest, and these two days I think are our first two-day break since the start of the month. So it will be good for guys that are playing heavy minutes, as well as Jaylen, some guys coming off things.”
If Williams and Schroder are cleared to play, Boston will have its entire rotation healthy for just the sixth time all season, the first time since Nov. 4 in Miami. Boston is 2-3 in those contests so far, but Udoka is optimistic about the strides the team has made as a whole in recent weeks.
“It’s an opportunity to test ourselves, get healthy, get our whole group back,” Udoka said of the month ahead. “We know we’re obviously going on the West Coast for a long stretch but we don’t really look at it as an opponent other than one by one and those teams, some are playing well, some aren’t. Traditional teams that have done well in the past, it’s just a chance to test ourselves. We break everything up into moreso 10-game increments and see where we were from the first to the last 10, and the improvements we’ve made.”
Jaylen Brown also is expected to be available for bigger minutes after working his way back from a hamstring injury over the past week. He has not played more than 25 minutes over Boston’s last four contests.
“I mean, the natural burst you can see at times isn’t there,” Udoka said of Brown’s recovery. “Knocking off the rust in the first game and going on his spurt like he did in the third quarter. But the main thing is how he feels after the game and he’s felt better after each game, so I think that’ll be a step where he doesn’t feel anything at all. Like I said, adding everybody back in the mix should benefit not only him, but the rest of the group. Starting to lower some of those minutes, decrease the minutes and he’ll be fine, I think. He’s finding his spots, picking his spots, being aggressive. But at the same time, trying to play the way we were without him.”
The Celtics face off with the 76ers at TD Garden on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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