With Thursday’s trade deadline come and gone, two teams with frontcourt injury issues will test whether a midseason roster change was the right decision when the Boston Celtics visit the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.
Boston (23-20) learned Wednesday that center Chris Wilcox will miss the remainder of the season, needing surgery on an enlarged aorta, and malcontent Jermaine O’Neal is looking for a buyout.
Desperately needing help down low – the Celtics are dead last in the league in rebounding (38.3). Boston decided not to execute a trade during the deadline and make one more foray into the playoffs with the veterans core of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce.
The Nuggets (24-20) were not so content to stay put.
Denver sent Nene Hilario to Washington for seven-footer JaVale McGee after he signed max contract but appeared in only 15 of Denver’s 43 games.
While Boston will have the advantage of team familiarity, that’s about all they have going for them heading into Saturday’s matchup.
The Nuggets have won six of the past seven against the Celtics at the Pepsi Center and host a Boston team on the fifth game of an eight-game road trip, playing in the thin air of Denver a night after looking winded in a 120-95 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Despite the lack of big men, Boston does have the NBA’s third-ranked defense (allowing just 90.1 points) and faces a Denver squad that’s 5-13 when scoring fewer than 100 points.
Ronny Turiaf, also included in the McGee trade, is expected to be waived by the Nuggets this weekend to make room for Wilson Chandler.