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BOSTON — The Boston Celtics’ bigs-by-committee will be put to the test in Friday night’s home opener with arguably the best of the bunch out with an injury.
Veteran center Enes Kanter, who got the start in Boston’s 107-93 loss at Philadelphia, has been ruled out for Friday’s game against Toronto with what the team described as a left knee contusion.
Following the loss to the Sixers, Kanter left the team’s locker room with a noticeable limp.
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens had praised Kanter for the job he did against Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (15 points, 13 rebounds). However, Stevens also pointed out that the 6-foot-11 Kanter was banged up.
“Kanter was great,” Stevens said shortly after Wednesday night’s game. “He’s a little banged up. Obviously not good for us. But I thought he was great. He did a really good job in isolation (defensively) and allowed us to not always have to double.”
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Which brings us to Friday’s game against the Raptors, who will surely look to make Marc Gasol an even more prominent part of their offensive attack knowing the Celtics will be without their top low-post scorer.
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens will likely choose from Daniel Theis, Robert Williams III and Vincent Poirier for his starting center. Theis and Williams started two preseason games apiece.
Joining Kanter on the players who will be out with injuries on Friday, are rookies Tacko Fall (NBA concussion protocol) and Romeo Langford (sore right knee).
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