Marcus Smart and Evan Fournier battle for a loose ball. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Last night started so promising for the Celtics.
Jaylen Brown returned from a three-game absence and looked good, but the injury bug bit the C's again in a home loss to the Magic.
Brad Stevens—Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart left early with injuries. How are they?
"Tatum had a shin contusion," Stevens said. "Evidently he had it before the game, I didn't know about it, but he just said it felt a little off when he jumped, so hopefully it's nothing major. Marcus Smart has an oblique bruise ... he was a little sore but was walking around, which was good, in the locker room. Glad we got out of there without anything else after that!"
Gordon Hayward and Al Horford have missed their share of games with injuries. They're hoping for the best.
"We got a couple days that we can hopefully get them back and get them ready, and hopefully it'll be fine and they're just bumps and bruises," Hayward said.
"We hope that they're good to go for round one," Horford said.
The Celts will open the playoffs Saturday afternoon or more likely Sunday against the Pacers. First, one last regular season game tomorrow in Washington. Stevens said Boston's starters won't play much, if at all.
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WBZ NewsRadio's Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) reports