Jaylen Brown Hamstring Clouds Celtics Season-Opener

Jaylen Brown’s status for Boston’s season opener is uncertain after he left a preseason game with a hamstring issue; coach Joe Mazzulla said Brown “was able to do everything but the live stuff.” The injury happened in the first quarter of the Raptors game — Brown played seven minutes — and the Celtics are likely to be cautious since Brown already had knee surgery this summer and is expected to be the team’s primary scorer with Jayson Tatum rehabbing a torn Achilles. Merlin sees the stakes: Brown was an All-Star and the 2024 Finals MVP who averaged 22.2 points while playing through injury last year, so Boston must balance urgency with care. With Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis gone, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard will shoulder more offense if Brown misses time — a small delay could ripple through Boston’s early rotation.