Jaylen Brown to miss third straight game, but Joe Mazzulla isn’t worried

Jaylen Brown is set to miss his third straight game for Boston.

The Celtics are going to take on Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday without one of their top stars.

For the third straight game, Jaylen Brown will be sidelined for Boston due to a left hip flexor issue.

Brown told The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn over the weekend that he received an MRI on his left hip flexor during training camp. The pain in his hip has continued to bother him since camp, with Brown telling Washburn that he planned to get a second MRI after Friday’s win over the Charlotte Hornets.

“I haven’t felt like my legs have been underneath me, dealing with this hip flexor,” Brown told Washburn. “It’s more [affecting] my explosion and my burst. And then, mentally, trying to figure that out as well. Thinking about it kind of throws everything off a little bit, but I’ll be fine.”

Despite the evident concern that comes with one of the team’s top stars sitting out three straight games, head coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t raise the alarms on Tuesday during his weekly radio call-in with 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak and Bertrand”.

“Not concerned,” Mazzulla said on The Sports Hub. “He‘s day-to-day. It’s a strain. He’s working really hard in treatment every day and just kind of working to get back at it. Not concerned, and I don’t think he is either.”

The Celtics have taken care of business during the two games that Brown has missed already, besting the Hornets in the second leg of a back-to-back stretch on Saturday before handling the Hawks on Monday, 123-93. 

Still, the absence of Brown stands as a tough break for the Celtics with the 6-1 Warriors coming to town. Brown is averaging 25.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game over his six appearances this season.

The Celtics should be bolstered on Wednesday with Jayson Tatum set for a rematch against Kerr and the Warriors.

While Tatum (30.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists) is already playing at an MVP level out of the gate this season, he’ll have plenty of motivation going up against Kerr — especially after the Warriors’ head coach benched Tatum twice during the 2024 Summer Olympics.