Celtics Notebook: Al Horford remains out for Suns game, Jaylen Brown (wrist) questionable for Wednesday

The Celtics were back at it in Brighton on Tuesday after two off days, gearing up for one of the busiest stretches of their schedule all season with a game every other day for the next 36 days.

The team was not at full strength for the session, as Al Horford remains sidelined with patellofemoral pain syndrome in his left knee. He will miss his sixth consecutive game on Wednesday night against the Suns as the team plays the long game with his recovery.

"It's about him feeling good for the rest of the season," Brad Stevens explained. "He just needs to feel 100 percent as he goes out and goes through the progression of drills and everything else. We did not test him in anything that he failed on. This is part of his progression. We knew he wasn't going to play tomorrow. If we practice later in the week, there is a chance he will be able to practice, but I doubt we'll be out there much now that we are playing every other day."

The Celtics have a pair of challenging matchups looming in the next ten days with the Bucks and Sixers at the TD Garden, but it's evident that the team won't be rushing back their All-Star, something that Kyrie Irving is happy to see. 

“It’s very important," Irving said of the added rest. "It’s difficult to go through an injury in-season. I don’t think it gets enough attention how hard it is for us as players to deal with injuries in a season. You have a specific role that you want to play, that the team has for you, you’re playing well, or your team could be playing bad, your team misses you or something like that. And it puts a mental strain on you because you obviously want to come back and be the player and play the game that you love to do. So it’s a test. But he’s a veteran, he’s been through it. We just want him to take his time. That’s the only thing I can really preach is patience.”

Jaylen Brown was also just a partial participant in practice on Tuesday after aggravating a hand injury suffered back in Dallas last month when he took a hard fall.

"He aggravated it a little bit in the Detroit game," Stevens said. "So he did not do all of practice, he did some. He will be questionable for tomorrow. Guerschon (Yabusele) is progressing well. I don't anticipate him being out too much longer, but don't have a timeline for a return."

Tough schedule awaits

After beating up on easy opponents for much of their eight-game winning streak, the degree of difficulty for the C's gets much tougher for the green with no consecutive days for the next month-plus along with a string of East contenders coming to town.

"Our schedule has been really interesting so far, with all the travel in the first two months," Stevens said. "This is going to be the first time we've played consecutive games at home in a while. We basically play every other day for the next three weeks and then have another day between that and then go again. It's quite a tense schedule that we have to play prepared for. We did not go super hard today. We did individuals and stuff yesterday. We need to be ready from a rest standpoint for the entire schedule. Certainly tomorrow night, we are catching Phoenix when they are playing their very best. These three games they've played excellent on both ends of the floor."

That type of workload has the Celtics roster focusing in on the need for recovery as a gauntlet awaits for most of December and January

“It’s vital," Irving said of his added rest. "My off days, even if I don’t come in the gym, they’re dedicated to five or six hours a day of just strict recovery work and doing everything I can. I have a great team around me as well as the training staff here. So anything I can do to get that edge, to make sure that I’m fresh, thinking about the things I do now compared to even a year ago is, my off days are no longer off days. They’re just really dedicated to making sure I’m committed. It’s an everyday job.

"Being a leader, being a great professional, working at your craft is an everyday job. And it’s well worth it. All I’m thinking in the back of my head is when I’m out there in the game I don’t want to be the guy that people are looking at if you run down six or seven times then he gets tired. That sixth or seventh time, most guys don’t want to get back on defense, they don’t want to set that screen, they don’t want to do the little things again. And for me I just try to put that in the back of my mind when I’m working out, like, this is what I’m pushing for, when I’m in the game and obviously working toward the end of the season.”