The Boston Celtics will be playing against the Houston Rockets tonight. Celtics fans will know that their team, led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown got off to an excellent start this season and was the first seed in the Eastern Conference. However, injuries to the team and an impressive winning streak from the Bucks have given the Celtics the second position with a record of 47 wins and 21 losses.
They will be taking on a young, inexperienced, and rebuilding Houston Rockets, who are at just 15 wins and 52 losses. That makes them one of the worst, if not the worst teams in the NBA. They are ranked dead last in the Western Conference. As both these teams get ready to face off, let us take a look at the availability status and expected rosters for both sides. After all, that will help in making an expert prediction for this game.
Jayson Tatum is expected to play in the Boston Celtics vs Houston Rockets game tonight
Although Tatum initially missed some time due to a knee injury and contusion, he is expected to play tonight against the Rockets. While it is unclear how he suffered this injury, some opine that it happened in a game against the New York Knicks. He missed the next game against Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nonetheless, he has returned since and played in the last two games for the Celtics.
There is no denying that the Celtics need JT to establish themselves as title contenders yet again. This season, Tatum has been averaging 30.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 4.7 assists. By doing so, he has carried his team to one of the top spots in the East.
Tatum is certainly an excellent player. However, he will not be the only one on the court deciding the outcome of the game tonight. That said, here are the injury reports and expected rosters for this match between the Celtics and the Rockets.
Boston Celtics injury report
- Payton Pritchard (out)
- Robert Williams III (out)
- Danilo Gallinari (out)
Boston Celtics expected roster
- Marcus Smart
- Jayson Tatum
- Jaylen Brown
- Derrick White
- Al Horford
Houston Rockets injury report
- Alperen Sengun (questionable)
Houston Rockets expected roster
- Jalen Green
- Jabari Smith Jr
- Kenyon Martin Jr
- Jae’Sean Tate
- Daishen Nix
As we can tell, both sides look somewhat healthy for this matchup. However, both teams will be missing a key player on the inside with Robert Williams III and Alperen Sengun unlikely to play. Finally, here are the expert predicitions for this game.
The Celtics are overwhelming favorites against the Rockets tonight
This is a very easy prediction to make. Boston made it all the way to the NBA Finals last year. But they ended up losing to Stephen Curry and the Warriors. Therefore, this is a revenge season for them and they will be looking to make a statement against the Rockets tonight.
Jalen Green and the Houston Rockets will be the clear-cut underdogs for this game. Perhaps the inexperience of the roster and a bad regular season record are important reasons why. Although the Rockets have enough talent to make this an interesting game, we have Boston winning it.
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