Kristaps Porzingis set to return to Celtics lineup Monday night

BOSTON -- The Celtics have already ruled out four players for Monday night's game against the lowly Pistons. The good news is that Kristaps Porzingis is not one of them.

Porzingis is listed as probable on Boston's lengthy injury report for Monday night's game, and should return to the Boston lineup after missing the last five games with a right hamstring strain. The injury isn't considered anything serious, and the five-game layoff is mostly viewed as the Celtics taking full advantage of their giant lead in the Eastern Conference standings and giving Porzingis a chance to get back to 100 percent (or as close as he can) ahead of the playoffs.

But it will be good to see Porzingis back out there after his 11-day break, with his last appearance coming on March 7 in Boston's home loss to the Nuggets. We'll have to see if head coach Joe Mazzulla has the big man on any sort of minutes restriction after such a long time away from game action.

The Celtics will be down a big man, as Al Horford (left big toe sprain) is one of four Celtics players already ruled out against the Pistons. Horford doesn't usually play back-to-back games anyways, so his absence is no real surprise.

Boston will also be without Sam Hauser, who left Sunday night's win over the Wizards after spraining his left ankle. Hauser was on fire before going down with the injury, which he suffered early in the third quarter, knocking down 10 three-pointers for 30 points in Boston's blowout victory.

Jrue Holiday (right shoulder contusion) and JD Davison (non-COVID illness) have also been ruled out by Boston for Monday night. Stars Jayson Tatum (right ankle impingement) and Jaylen Brown (right ankle sprain) are both listed as questionable for the tilt, as the C's find themselves in the middle of a five-games-in-seven-nights stretch.

The Celtics shouldn't need much star power to beat the 12-55 Pistons on Monday night, sitting at an NBA-best 30-3 at home this season and 53-14 overall. The Pistons did play Boston tough back in late December, taking the C's to overtime at TD Garden, but this soft part of the schedule is a perfect time to get players rest ahead of the playoffs.

Boston's magic number to clinch the 1-seed in the Eastern Conference sits at six heading into Monday night's game.