Boston Celtics DVOA, Stats, & NBA Rankings

Boston Celtics forward/center Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) will return from a five-game absence on Monday versus Detroit, with the team upgrading him from probable to available ahead of the contest. He's a natural replacement in the lineup for Al Horford (toe), who gets the night off, while Porzingis could play a larger role offensively due to the absence of Jayson Tatum (ankle). However, as he was out with a hamstring strain, Boston might want to take it easy with Porzingis and not push him too hard in an easy matchup, which already smells like a blowout before the tip-off.

Boston Celtics guard/forward Jaylen Brown (ankle) will return from a one-game absence on Monday versus Detroit. The three-time All-Star sat out Sunday's matchup against Washington with a right ankle sprain and was initially listed as questionable for Monday before the team upgraded him to available. It's Jayson Tatum's (ankle) turn to rest on Monday, meaning we should see Brown a lot with the ball, and it's a great matchup for him to keep his recent momentum going. Brown has almost been like a different player since the All-Star break, posting 28.9 points with 40.6 percent shooting from deep.

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (ankle) won't play against the Pistons on Monday. The Celtics star sits out the second leg of a back-to-back with a right ankle sprain after torching Washington with 30 points in 27 minutes on Sunday. Jaylen Brown (ankle) missed Sunday's game and will be back on Monday to show what he can do with extra usage against one of the weakest squads in the Association.

Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) is probable for Monday's game versus the Detroit Pistons, but Al Horford (toe) will be unavailable. Porzingis is expected to return from a five-game absence due to a strained right hamstring, while Horford will hit the seats with a sprained left big toe after pitching in 14 points during 23 minutes in Sunday's beatdown of the Washington Wizards. Horford doesn't play both parts of back-to-backs, so he should be good to go for Wednesday's duel with the Milwaukee Bucks. With the veteran sidelined, Porzingis could be thrust into big minutes at the five for the Celts in a favorable situation against a Detroit group that's allowing the third-most FanDuel points to opposing centers. The Latvian All-Star was on an heater before going down, averaging 23.3 points, 8.6 boards, 2.8 triples on 46.7% shooting from deep, and 1.4 swats in 31.9 minutes over his past five games.

Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown (ankle) is questionable for Monday's meeting with the Detroit Pistons. Brown sat out the back end of Boston's back-to-back on March 11 and March 12 due to a sprained right ankle, and he missed the first part of their current set of two games in consecutive days during Sunday's shellacking of the Washington Wizards. With that said, the All-Star swingman should have a good shot of playing in this one. If the Celtics opt to keep Brown out against an awful Pistons team and make Jayson Tatum (ankle) available, however, the latter is averaging 28.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 3.2 threes, and 1.8 swipes over six games without the former in 2023-24 and would be one of the top fantasy plays on Monday's eight-game slate against the Association's fifth-worst defense in terms of efficiency rating (116.3).