How will Celtics handle their rotation without Al Horford and Marcus Morris vs. Nuggets?

The Celtics have played more games (29) than any other team in the league this season and despite some elite minutes management from Brad Stevens, this looked like a tired group on Monday night against the Bulls.

With the team in the midst of brutal schedule week (five games in four different cities over seven nights), the Celtics announced Tuesday that Al Horford would be getting the night off on Wednesday night instead of suiting up for a matchup with the Denver Nuggets. Marcus Morris (sore knee) will also be sidelined for the third straight game.

Kyrie Irving (quad contusion) is likely to return to the court after a one-game absence, as the team has listed him as probable for Wednesday's matchup.

BSJ Analysis

If Horford was going to get a night off this week, Wednesday seems like a wise choice for it. Denver is without All-Star power forward Paul Millsap (wrist injury), while starting center Nikola Jokic is questionable to play due to a sprained ankle. Without those two names to deal with, the matchups are a lot more manageable for the Celtics undermanned frontcourt, compared to the next two opponents for Boston (Rudy Gobert, Marc Gasol) over the weekend.

The Nuggets have been starting small with Wilson Chandler at power forward with Jokic sidelined, so there is a possibility that Semi Ojeleye gets his first NBA start with Horford and Morris out. Aron Baynes will matchup with Mason Plumlee at center and Daniel Theis will see increased minutes off the bench while battling on the boards with Kenneth Faried.

However, assuming Irving plays, I would guess that the Celtics go with a smaller look to try to match up with the three guards the Nuggets have been starting (Jamal Murray, Will Barton, Gary Harris). That means Marcus Smart starting next to Irving at shooting guard, which bumps up Jaylen Brown to small forward and Jayson Tatum to power forward. That probably works better from a matchup standpoint for Boston, since Tatum guarding Barton or Harris at small forward is a very tough cover for him from a quickness standpoint.

On the flip side, Stevens' loves to use Smart as an energy guy off the bench, but in this instance, the pros of starting him far outweigh the cons. The C's have a more trustworthy batch of reserve guards with Smart starting (Terry Rozier, Shane Larkin) than reserve forwards if Ojeleye starts (Guerschon Yabusele, Abdel Nader).

Either way, the Celtics' offense is going to have its work cut out for themselves without two of their top offensive weapons in the fold. Irving should be able to have a big game against a Nuggets backcourt without a defensive stopper, but the C's are going to need some secondary pieces to step up to keep pace with the seventh-best offense in the league.