Jaylen Brown injury: Joe Mazzulla shares update on Celtics star

Jaylen Brown missed his third consecutive game with a hip flexor strain Wednesday night, sitting out the Celtics’ highly anticipated matchup with the Golden State Warriors at TD Garden.

Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla shared a brief update on Brown’s status during his pregame news conference.

“He works hard every day just trying to come back,” Mazzulla said. “I think it’s a day-to-day thing, so we’ll see how he is when he wakes up tomorrow and just go from there. But he’s in there every day working at it.”

Brown is averaging 25.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game across six appearances this season. The NBA Finals MVP scored 25 points in his most recent outing but has struggled with his outside shooting of late, making just one of his last 21 3-point attempts.

Mazzulla has utilized double-big starting lineups in Brown’s absence, starting either Luke Kornet or Neemias Queta at center alongside Al Horford. Queta made his first NBA start in Monday’s 123-93 win over Atlanta and started again Wednesday night.

“Both those guys are playing really well, so they still get to their five-out lineup with Horford at the five, but they’re playing a little bigger,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “And obviously Jaylen is one of the best players in the league, so they’ll miss him, but they’ve got lots of guys in reserve.”

Kerr briefly forgot Kornet’s name but said the 29-year-old 7-footer has “turned into a hell of a player.” Kornet entered Wednesday’s game ranked fourth in the NBA in net rating (12.1), trailing only Celtics teammates Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard and Derrick White.

The Celtics outscored opponents by 51 points with Queta on the floor during their recent four-game road trip, including a plus-31 mark for the Portuguese native against the Hawks. Their efforts, along with the contributions of Horford and Xavier Tillman, helped the Celtics win seven of their first eight games without starting center Kristaps Porzingis, who has yet to return from offseason leg surgery.

Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski sat out Wednesday’s game due to illness. Kerr said Stephen Curry’s minutes restriction would be lifted in his second game back from an ankle injury.