Jaylen Brown, Holiday, Porzingis injury updates for monster Nuggets/Celtics matchup

The Nuggets continue their gauntlet of a road trip on Sunday morning as they face the defending champs in a brutal scheduling spot. Denver benefited from a soft schedule going into the All-Star break that allowed them to build a nice winning streak and climb the Western Conference standings.

But things have quickly changed and they’re in the midst of a grueling stretch that only gets harder. So far, they’ve managed to pull out some nice wins, but they’ve commonly been outclassed by the league’s best teams this season.

A truly telling stat, the Nuggets are just 6-12 this season against teams that are currently in the top six in the East or West. If they want to make any noise in the playoffs this season, those are the teams they’re going to have to beat and so far, they haven’t proven they can do it with any consistency.

Sunday provides another chance against a 42-18 Celtics squad that’s currently in second place in the Eastern Conference. This has all the makings of a classic showdown on ABC at 11 AM MT in Boston. This game pits the last two NBA Finals winners against each other and two of the top three current candidates for MVP. But there are some health question marks behind Jayson Tatum and Nikola Jokic.

Brown questionable, KP and Jrue unlikely to suit up for Celtics

The Celtics have ratcheted things up and have looked every bit the part of a team ready to make another title run, but they are limping into this game a bit. They’ve lost two games in a row, a 20-point beatdown in Detroit followed by a tough home loss to the conference-leading Cavaliers.

On top of that, they’ve got some health concerns. Jrue Holiday missed the last two games with a finger issue and Kristaps was absent Friday night with an illness; both players are listed as doubtful for Sunday morning against the Nuggets.

Jaylen Brown missed the Pistons game, but was able to play against the Cavs and scored 37 points for Boston; he’s listed as questionable.

Nuggets may be decimated in frontcourt

But the Nuggets have their own issues heading into this game. It’s the team’s third game in four days, and it’s being played at 11 AM Denver time. It’s also the final game of a four-game road trip before the team finally heads back home, and for the cherry on top, they’ll be playing an angry Celtics team that just blew a 22-point lead to the Cavs.

If that wasn’t enough, Denver may be missing several players as well. Aaron Gordon and Zeke Nnaji are both listed as questionable with ankle injuries and Peyton Watson, DaRon Holmes, and Vlatko Cancar remain out.

Missing Gordon (who was out on Friday) would be a tough blow, but to be without his backup, Nnaji would hurt even more. Zeke has been playing really well lately, and he has been the only viable backup big man lately. He and Gordon have also been two of the team’s best defenders along with Watson so this could be a very rough showing on that end.

The Nuggets are going to have their work cut out for them in this one, and it won’t get much easier as their next six games will be against the Kings, Suns, Thunder, Thunder, Timberwolves, and Lakers. Buckle up for a wild March, Nuggets fans.