The Boston Celtics will be extremely shorthanded for their Christmas matinee against the Milwaukee Bucks.
In the team's injury report released on Christmas Eve, eight players have already been ruled out by the Celtics due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols while four more were questionable.
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Enes Freedom, Bruno Fernando, Sam Hauser, Josh Richardson, Grant Williams, Justin Jackson, C.J. Miles and Aaron Nesmith will miss the game for the Celtics, scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. tip-off, due to health and safety protocols. Al Horford, Juancho Hernangomez, Brodric Thomas and Jabari Parker are all listed as questionable due to protocols.
In addition, two players are questionable due to non-COVID related injuries, including Marcus Smart and Romeo Langford.
To contend with their shorthanded status, the Celtics have continued to dip into a pool of inactive veteran players, the latest being Al-Farouq Aminu and Norvel Pelle. This follows the signing of Joe Johnson, who was originally drafted by Boston in 2001 but traded away during his rookie season, earlier in the week.
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Milwaukee, meanwhile, has just a single player currently in health and safety protocols in Donte DiVincenzo, although the Bucks will also be without Brook Lopez due to back surgery.
Milwaukee (21-13) owns the third-best record in the Eastern Conference while the Celtics (16-16) are currently in eighth. Boston owns a win over the Bucks earlier this month, however, a 117-103 victory in which Jayson Tatum dropped 42 points.