A recent report raised questions about the eligibility of a couple of Celtics players should they face the Raptors in the playoffs, but one of them, Al Horford, told Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe that he’s fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and will be available for potential playoff games in Toronto. The other player whose status remains unknown is Jaylen Brown, and he has declined to comment on the matter.
In January, Canada implemented a rule barring unvaccinated individuals from entering the country, and on March 28, in Boston’s first road game since the rule was implemented, the team held four players out of action, including Horford for “personal reasons.”
He later stated “I’ll be ready to play wherever,” but didn’t explicitly say whether he was vaccinated or not, leading some to question whether he’d be able to play at Toronto in the future. Now he’s put that speculation to rest.
The veteran big man is having a solid season for the Celtics, averaging 10.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.3 blocks on .463/.333/.842 shooting while providing his usual strong defense. Horford has appeared in 68 games, all starts, with an average of 29.1 minutes per contest.
The Celtics are currently the No. 3 seed in the East with one game remaining. They trail the Bucks by a half-game, and lead the Sixers by a half-game, but hold tiebreakers over both — should they finish tied with one (or both) of them, Boston will finish as the higher seed.
The Raptors (47-33) are the No. 5 seed and appear to be in good position to finish that way; they hold a two-game lead over Chicago and finish their schedule with games against Houston and New York.
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