Kristaps Porzingis questions Jaylen Brown’s choice to play through injury

NEW YORK Despite the four stitches on the bridge of his nose and shiner beneath his right eye Kristaps Porzingis came out of Tuesday s overtime win over the Knicks feeling good The Celtics big man had fully recovered from the series of lower leg injuries that limited him early in the season and was nearly back to from a conditioning standpoint after missing eight straight games with an illness last month If he gets a meager days off before the playoffs Porzingis disclosed he d feel perfect Just rejuvenate the body he stated after Boston s - achievement at Madison Square Garden and yeah I ll be ready to go Porzingis would like to see one of his teammates Jaylen Brown take a similar approach Brown has been playing through what he s described as a painful right knee injury He put up quality numbers in games against Miami points nine rebounds four assists and Phoenix points five rebounds three assists last week but looked objectively limited against New York Brown played just minutes and recorded a season-low six points on -of- shooting with five rebounds one assist and three turnovers Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla kept Brown on the bench for the entire fourth quarter and overtime saying after the meeting that the squad just got what we needed to get out of him as he continues to push himself and test himself Why is Brown playing at all in games that are essentially meaningless for the Celtics who are locked into the No seed in the Eastern Conference Last year s NBA Finals MVP has disclosed he s choosing to suit up rather than rest because he knows his knee injury could linger into the playoffs and wants to hone his contest to be effective amid promising physical limitations It s not he s claimed related to the -game threshold players must reach to qualify for most of end-of-season awards including the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams though his latest usage suggests otherwise After sitting out five games between March and March Brown needed to play at least minutes in all but one of Boston s final seven contests to reach that benchmark he played just under minutes in each of his last two appearances Regardless of Brown s motivation Porzingis wants him to prioritize his wellness He s a tough dude Porzingis noted after scoring points and hitting eight -pointers against the Knicks including a go-ahead three in overtime He s a tough dude He consistently preaches his warrior mindset and he lives by it but to what extent do we need that right now Maybe he necessities to take care of it and make sure he s going to be ready for the preponderance essential moments So I think we just have to urge him to make sure he does everything he necessities to prepare to get it healthy and to prepare for what s going to come And I think he s a smart guy so he will It just shows his heart and how bad he wants to be out there even for games that don t mean super much for us right now But that s who he is and I appreciate him for that Jayson Tatum noted the Celtics are doing what they can to backing Brown who s also battled hip shoulder and back injuries this season Just being there for him as much as you can Tatum explained We ve all been there to a certain extent It s tough We work really hard on our craft and try to prepare ourselves to be at our best and it s tough mentally when you re out there and you maybe can t do the things that you normally do So it s a mental hurdle that you have to fight but that s why it s a crew sport We have teammates that have your back cover for you and just help you get through things Brown did not speak with reporters after Tuesday s win The Celtics have three games left on their regular-season schedule beginning with the second end of a two-city back-to-back Wednesday night in Orlando That would be a logical spot for Mazzulla to rest multiple of his regulars all of whom played against the Knicks except for veteran big man Al Horford Boston then will close out its season with home games against the lottery-bound Charlotte Hornets on Friday and Sunday before tipping off its first-round playoff series next weekend