WALTHAM, Mass. -- Boston Celtics second-year guard Marcus Smart is not expected to travel with the team to New York on Tuesday night due to illness and will miss Wednesday's exhibition game against the Brooklyn Nets, according to coach Brad Stevens.
Smart is the latest Celtics player to battle an illness that started affecting the team during its European trek last week. Amir Johnson missed Thursday's game against Real Madrid due to the sickness, while others such as David Lee and Jonas Jerebko have missed practices while under the weather.
“[Smart has] got what everybody else had, plus fever and everything else,” Stevens said. "We’ve gone through that a little bit with our roster and hopefully we’re nearing the end of it."
The Celtics' backcourt is further depleted as rookie Terry Rozier is sitting out both games this week after having his left knee drained.
Even before Smart fell ill, the Celtics were planning on resting a handful of rotation players for Wednesday's game. Stevens said he'll wait until Wednesday morning to make a final determination, but said he expects to also rest veteran guard Avery Bradley, meaning Boston will be without its starting backcourt from its first two exhibition games.
Stevens said he'll likely start Isaiah Thomas at point guard and expects to pair him often with Evan Turner, who missed both preseason games overseas due to right knee soreness.