NEW YORK — Celtics starting center Aron Baynes missed the team’s 121-112 win Saturday night over the Knicks because of a sprained left elbow, and he is scheduled to undergo an MRI Sunday, according to coach Brad Stevens.
Baynes suffered the injury in the first quarter of the Celtics’ 110-98 win Friday over the Pistons. Initially, the team said he was able to return in that game, but he was later ruled out. Baynes declined an interview request prior to Saturday’s game.
“Felt a little bit better,’’ Stevens said. “He’s still sore, but he’ll see our team docs and do the MRI thing tomorrow.’’
This season Baynes is averaging 5.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 17.9 minutes per game. His 96.5 defensive rating leads the NBA. Daniel Theis, who poured in a career-high 19 points Friday, started in place of Baynes against the Knicks. He contributed 6 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes.
Backup point guard Shane Larkin, who had missed the last 10 games due to a sore knee, was finally available to play — though he only took one shot in his five minutes of court time.
Return still unlikely
On Friday, Stevens said that forward Gordon Hayward would continue to rehabilitate his injured left ankle back in Boston and remained at least several weeks away from even joining the team on road trips.
With just 21 games left in the regular season, that seemed to be the latest sign that Hayward will not play at all this season, and Stevens reiterated that belief Saturday.
“I’ve said all year: not coming back,’’ Stevens said. “It’s the way I’ve operated. It’s the way we’ve looked at it. We’ll bring him on the road when he can do stuff on the road, but that’s for his own benefit, to get back into the gyms, to get back into this routine, to cheer on his teammates and everything else. But as long as he can get more accomplished at our facility or with our trainers . . . then that’s going to be the priority. But we have no expectation of Gordon being back this season.’’
Staying ready
Rookie Guerschon Yabusele has been with the Celtics’ G-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, since Feb. 10, and Stevens said the team is planning to keep him there for the near future. Stevens said it is partly because Boston does not have extensive frontcourt depth.
That might sound like a reason for Yabusele to remain with the Celtics, but Stevens said game repetitions at the lower level are important in case the rookie is needed to fill a hole in a pinch.
“When we sent him before break, we told him he would likely be up there for a little bit of time,’’ Stevens said. “We likened it a little bit toTerry [Rozier’s]situation a few years ago . . . He’s got to be game ready, and hopefully when he comes back he has his legs under him and confidence and pep about him. You don’t want to be in a situation where we lose bodies, but certainly how thin we are in the frontcourt is why we want to have him ready.’’
Balance praised
Kyrie Irving and Al Horford are All-Stars, but Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said the Celtics’ balance is what makes them most dangerous.
“You can’t focus on one particular guy in their offense,’’ he said. “Anybody can shoot it. They’ll find the mismatch where they’ve got an advantage . . . The big thing is you’ve got to match their intensity. They’ve got a bunch of guys that play extremely hard.’’
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach @globe.com.
