BOSTON (AP) 鈥� Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said Friday he doesn鈥檛 anticipate All-Star Jaylen Brown missing a significant amount of time after suffering a broken bone in his face.
Stevens said Brown has been fitted with a mask. Brown was diagnosed with a maxillary fracture after he took an inadvertent elbow from Jayson Tatum on Wednesday while going for a rebound during Boston's win over Philadelphia.
Brown was sitting Friday night with Boston hosting Charlotte and will be evaluated over the next few days. That will determine how long he will be sidelined.
鈥淗e鈥檚 still feeling it. It doesn鈥檛 feel great. We鈥檒l see how he feels when he starts moving around,鈥� Stevens said. 鈥淭hen we鈥檒l get together early in the week and kind of figure out what鈥檚 next. But it doesn鈥檛 look like it鈥檚 going to be too long, which is a good thing.鈥�
Stevens also said point guard Marcus Smart, who will miss his ninth straight game Friday with a sprained right ankle, continues to get closer to a return but still is experiencing pain.
Boston (36-16) entered Friday with the best record in the the NBA.
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Kyle Hightower, The Associated Press
