Boston Celtics Injury Report (Jan. 5): Latest update on Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown's availability

Both Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown are expected to play when the Utah Jazz visit the Boston Celtics on Friday. The Celtics have a clean injury report, with only Al Horford listed as questionable due to rest. However, Horford usually sits out the second night of a back-to-back, so he will most likely feature against Utah.

Boston is coming off a 127-123 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, their seventh of the season but only their second loss with a full-strength starting five. Joe Mazzulla's team has become incredibly difficult to beat, especially at full strength.

As such, the Jazz may struggle to win on Friday. Boston's five-out offense could pull Walker Kessler out of the paint, allowing Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to attack the lanes and find pockets of space behind Utah's perimeter defense.

Furthermore, the defensive pairing of Derrick White and Jrue Holiday should make it incredibly difficult for the Jazz's guard pairing of Kris Dunn and Collin Sextion. Holiday and White are the most versatile guard pairing in the league and have been shutting the opposing team's perimeter offense down all season.

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The Boston Celtics' entire starting five are present in All-Star voting

For most of the season, there has been a belief that the Boston Celtics starting five are capable of being All-Stars in their position. On Thursday, the NBA released its first list of players being considered for All-Star appearances following the first round of fan voting.

Every member of the Celtics starting rotation is on the list. Jayson Tatum is third among frontcourt players in the Eastern Conference. Jaylen Brown is fifth. Kristaps Porzingis is eighth. Derrick White is eighth in Eastern Conference guards. Jrue Holiday is tenth.

It's unlikely that all of the Boston Celtics' starting five will make the All-Star game, as there are still multiple voting rounds left. However, having all five players listed in the first round of fan returns is proof of how strong the Celtics core rotation is and the amount of talent Mazzulla has at his disposal.

As the voting process continues, both White and Holiday will likely get squeezed out of the picture along with Porzingis. The most logical selection will be Tatum, while Brown has a chance of gatecrashing the selection of making the reserves.

All of the Boston Celtics' rotation are victims of their own success. For the season to be considered successful, everyone on the roster has had to sacrifice. That means lower statistical output, which in turn affects their ability to earn individual recognition, like an All-Star selection.

However, if Boston can win the championship this season, that sacrifice won't matter. Raising a banner is the most important goal.