The Celtics will be without Kyrie Irving for the second straight game on Friday night in an ESPN matchup with the Mavericks after the point guard was ruled out by the team on Thursday for eye inflammation following a shot to the face by Marco Belinelli on Monday. Brad Stevens did not expect a lengthy absence for the guard when speaking about the injury on Wednesday, so his odds of returning on Monday against the Nets appear strong.
That's not the only bad news the C's got on the injury front for Friday though as Marcus Morris (neck) and Robert Williams (groin) were both listed as questionable. Marcus Smart was not on the report after taking a shot to his shoulder during Wednesday's win over the Wolves. The presence of Williams would be a big boost to Boston's bench against high flying center DeAndre Jordan with Al Horford facing a minutes limit.
Ainge downplays trade possibilities
With just over a month remaining until the trade deadline and the Celtics underachieving a bit in the Eastern Conference, the idea of trade talk has picked up some steam in recent weeks. However, in his weekly interview with Danny Ainge on 98.5 the Sports Hub, the president of basketball operations downplayed the idea that a deal would be coming.
"As far as trading, I don't really see much out there. We have a lot of good ones. It's hard to get better players than we have," Ainge said.
While this type of talk is expected from an executive who doesn't want to have his players looking over their shoulders for the next month, a closer look at the sellers on the market makes it sound realistic. Boston doesn't have much movable salary on the roster and finding equal value for guys on expiring deals (Terry Rozier, Daniel Theis) is not going to be an easy task when Boston is in win-now mode. I'd expect some roster movement eventually but the far more likely possibility is a buyout addition after the trade deadline.
Irving leads guards in All-Star voting
Kyrie Irving vs. LeBron James as captains in the All-Star player draft? The early voting results suggest it's a possibility. Irving is about 70,000 votes behind the top vote-getter in the East (Giannis Antetokounmpo) while James leads the West. The two leading vote-getters will lead each conference in a televised player draft next month.
For now, Irving looks like the only potential starter for the C's as Tatum, Hayward and Horford trail by hundreds of thousands of votes. The starters will be elected by fan vote (50 percent), media vote (25 percent) and player vote (25 percent) while All-Star reserves are selected by coaches. Here's a look at the latest totals.
The All-Star game's first-return fan votes are in ? pic.twitter.com/sUM6qr5qzI
β SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 3, 2019