By our count, Boston is without 38 minutes of rotation time today, with Mitchell Robinson and Devin Carter both out. It is a real gap at center and a modest one in league context, but it is the largest single-day total the Celtics have logged this season.
The missing minutes belong to two players, and one is a center.
Robinson averages 20.1 minutes and Carter 18.4, which is where the 38 comes from. Robinson was listed day-to-day for rest on October 31 and moved to out on November 1, with November 2 as his estimated return. Carter is out with an illness and is listed to return November 8. Neemias Queta is averaging 19.7 minutes, 9.0 points and 4.8 rebounds over five games this season, so the center minutes have a ready owner. MassLive's Souichi Terada put the center rotation in a notebook headline on October 31, and it is the right question. Five games is not enough to say how deep the answer goes.
Today is the worst day of the count, but the season total is mid-table.
Since October 20, our count has Boston at 259 minutes lost over 13 days, which puts the Celtics 20th among 30 clubs for most minutes lost to injury. No day has cost more than today's 38, so the peak and the present are the same number. Across the league, 1,359 minutes are out today. A team can absorb a gap of this size when it sits third in the East at 4-1, and Boston's net rating of +9.8 over five games says the margin has been wide. It does not say how the rotation holds if the gap lasts.
Day-to-day has cost Boston nothing yet, and Robinson is about to change that.
Across the league, 65 of 112 players newly listed day-to-day missed their team's next game, or 58 percent, with rest days included. This club stands at 0 of 1. Robinson was listed day-to-day on October 31 and is now out for the Magic game, so that tally will likely become 1 of 1 once the game is played. One case is not a pattern. It does show how quickly a day-to-day listing can harden, and a fan should read the next one with that in mind.
Orlando is the more depleted side, which softens Boston's gap.
The Magic are 2-3 with a net rating of -7.6 over five games, and Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs, Noah Penda, Jonathan Isaac and Izaiyah Nelson are all listed out. Franz Wagner is averaging 20.8 points. Boston's opponent has fewer answers than its own list suggests. Watch Robinson's status for the game on November 2 and Carter's for November 8. Among our milestones, Payton Pritchard is 3 steals short of 250 and, at 0.8 a game this season, is about 4 games away at the current pace.
How many minutes are the Celtics missing to injury?
By our count, 38 minutes today, from Mitchell Robinson (20.1 a game) and Devin Carter (18.4 a game). Since October 20 the total is 259 minutes, 20th among 30 clubs for most minutes lost.
When is Mitchell Robinson expected back?
He is listed out for rest as of November 1, with November 2 as his estimated return. He was listed day-to-day the day before.
