The Boston Celtics have managed to win four games in a row despite the absence of All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving for three of those victories.
Irving has been battling a right quadriceps contusion that has caused him to be held out of the lineup, but as Boston heads into a very important matchup with the Raptors in Toronto on Tuesday night, he will make his return. Coach Brad Stevens said he hopes to have both Irving and Marcus Morris, who is dealing with a hip injury, in the lineup for the game against their main competition for the top seed in the East.
Brad Stevens says Kyrie Irving (quad) and Marcus Morris (hip) will both participate in this morning’s shootaround. “The hope is that they’re both available (tonight vs. Toronto).” #NEBHInjuryReport
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 6, 2018
Irving confirmed to reporters that he would indeed play and make his return to the lineup for the game.
Kyrie Irving said he will play tonight against the Toronto Raptors.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) February 6, 2018
A win in Toronto would give the Celtics a three game lead over the Raptors in the Eastern Conference standings and serve as an important head-to-head win in case of a tiebreaker scenario. This will be the second of four meetings between the two teams, as Boston is already 1-0 against Toronto after a narrow 95-94 win back in November. The final two meetings of the season series will, fittingly, take place in the final weeks of the regular season on March 31 and April 4 in games that could be extremely important to seeding.
