Los Angeles (AFP) - The Boston Celtics are hopeful Jaylen Brown will not need surgery after suffering a facial fracture, team officials said on Friday.
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said Brown was unlikely to face a lengthy layoff after injuring himself in a collision with team-mate Jayson Tatum.
"The latest with the Jaylen information is that it looks like no surgery," Stevens told reporters on Friday.
"We're going to see how he feels over the next few days -- he's already been fitted for a mask.
"But he's still feeling it, doesn't feel great.So we'll see how he feels when he starts moving around."
Brown suffered what the Celtics said was a maxillary facial fracture during Boston's win over Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Brown was injured after catching a stray elbow from Tatum as both players chased a rebound.
"We'll get together early in the week and figure out what's next," Stevens said.
"But it doesn't look it's going to be too long which is a good thing."
Brown is averaging career highs in points (27), rebounds (7.1) and field-goal percentage (.490) for the Celtics, who lead the Eastern Conference with the best record in the league.
