Celtics Notebook: Marcus Morris (knee), Jaylen Brown (back) will miss Heat game, Greg Monroe won't be re-signed

The Celtics will be down a couple of rotation players on Wednesday night in Miami as Jaylen Brown and Marcus Morris are both expected to sit out, according to the team. Brown missed Monday's game against the Heat with back spasms and did not participate in shootaround on Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, Morris was a late addition to the injury report with a sore knee. He's officially listed as questionable but told Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe on Wednesday morning that he didn't plan on suiting up.

BSJ Analysis: The decision to rest up Morris, in particular, could be helpful on a number of fronts. The veteran forward has struggled mightily in recent weeks on the defensive end, particularly with his foot speed and mobility. Getting him recharged ahead of the postseason next week should be a priority for this team right now given the dropoff in play. Additionally, the Celtics have fared poorly for a couple of months now when Morris has been on the floor. He has already lost his starting spot for the time being but it is worth wondering ahead of the postseason how some defensive configurations would fare without Morris in the fold.

For tonight, I'd expect a healthy diet of Semi Ojeleye at the four off the bench, along with perhaps some Robert Williams at the center spot alongside Horford to combat the athleticism advantage that the Heat have in the frontcourt with Hassan Whiteside and Bam Adebayo.  Stevens needs to figure out what groupings he can trust ahead of the postseason and with this being a high leverage game for the Heat, it should be a good test to see what deep bench players are able to hold their own when Stevens is set on playing big. Big minutes are also in line for Gordon Hayward with both Morris and Brown sidelined.

A closer look at the depth chart in play:

G: Irving, Smart, Rozier, Wanamaker
F: Tatum, Horford, Hayward, Ojeleye, Yabusele
C: Baynes, Williams, Theis

Celtics won't re-sign Monroe

The 10-day contract that the veteran big man signed expired this week and the Celtics have no plans to re-sign in the interim according to a team source. The improved health of Baynes and Horford over the past week has lessened the need for Monroe from a depth perspective as the big man saw just garbage time minutes in his quick stint with Boston. While the possibility remains that the center is will be re-signed ahead of the end of the regular season, every day he is on the roster right now adds to the team's tax bill. Leaving him off until the end of the year will save Celtics ownership a chunk of cash while also keeping open the team's flexibility to add a player ahead of the postseason based on whether any other injuries pop up in the next week.