By establishing a W/L record of 64-18, the Boston Celtics had secured the top spot on the points chart quite some time ago and have been holding on to it ever since. Now, it’s time for the star filled roster to take its talents to compete in the next stage of the ongoing NBA tournament: The Playoffs. Their first challenge will be to compete against the Miami Heat, against whom the Celtics currently hold a 6-4 record. Knowing the high stakes that await them, the franchise will be looking to utilize their top scorer Jayson Tatum and others to their full potential. Fortunately, a recent update has proven that doing the same will be more than possible.

A few hours ago, the ‘NBA Front Office Show’ host Keith Smith took to his official X account to highlight details from the Celtics’ recently released Injury Report. According to it, 28-year-old center Luke Kornet is the only player who is listed on the report, having been declared “OUT” of the Heat matchup. Despite appearing in 63 games during this regular season, Kornet had only been averaging 5.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.1. Therefore, his absence wouldn’t affect the top seeding team that much.

Jayson Tatum’s availability had been a matter of concern given that the player’s knee situation continues to be questionable. The same had prevented him from making an appearance during his team’s final game against the Portland Trail Blazers, which they still managed to win by 17 points. Another player whose upcoming presence at the TD Garden remained under a cloud of doubt was Jaylen Brown. His left-hand sprain developed at the start of the month had caused him to miss out on a clash against the Hornets. However, with their names being absent from the report, the two leading scorers of the Celtics will be present to take on Tyler Herro and co.

While the situation is all blissful for the Boston team, the same cannot be said about their rivals. According to the Injury Report released by the Miami Heat, the team’s star player Jimmy Butler will continue to remain “OUT” for the upcoming game and possibly any other subsequent Heat games. This is a result of the sprained MCL that the player developed during the roster’s previous game against the Philadelphia 76ers. On the plus side, small forward Duncan Robinson’s status has now been shifted from ‘Out’ to ‘Questionable’. It is not a guarantee on his availability, but it is a sign that Robinson is slowly recovering from his back injury.

Will Jayson Tatum and the Celtics avenge the results of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals?

The Heat-Celtics clash is setting itself up to be a highly anticipated one for a single reason. It will mark the first playoff game between the teams after the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. Looking at how the entire affair turned out to be, no one would blame the Celtics for allegedly harbouring a grudge during the upcoming game.

Despite looking to be the favourites to win the tournament, Jayson Tatum and co had difficulty getting the better of Miami during the Conference Finals, who won the first three of the six games series. However, the Celtics pushed until they also had three wins under their belt. Game 7 was going to be the one that decided the ultimate fate of both franchises. Unfortunately, the Celtics got into trouble from the start itself, as Jayson Tatum ended up rolling his ankle during the first 30 seconds of the game. While he went on to play for 42 minutes, he only managed to score 14 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Jaylen Brown also ended his 43 minutes run by dropping just 19 points. Through a final score of 84-103, the Celtics were eliminated after being just one win away from the NBA finals.

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A lot has changed since that game and the upcoming one. Jayson Tatum is not injured, Jimmy Butler is out and the Celtics have a higher win record than before. Even though the stakes are not as high as the Conference Finals, but a loss would eliminate the Celtics from the tournament for good.