Celtics play again without injured Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis

Celtics guard Jrue Holiday and center Kristaps Porzingis remained sidelined for Sunday night’s game against the Pacers. It was Holiday’s third consecutive absence due to a shoulder impingement, and Porzingis sat out for the second straight game because of a sprained ankle.

Porzingis suffered the injury in the first half of Boston’s loss to the 76ers on Christmas and did not return for the second.

“He’s getting better every day,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “He’s working at it. So we’ll just continue to see how he improves.”

Mazzulla said he was unsure how Holiday was injured, and he offered a similarly vague assessment.

“Getting better every day,” Mazzulla said. “And he’ll continue to get better and we’ll kind of see how he is.”

Sam Hauser started against the Pacers for the second consecutive game with Holiday out. Al Horford remained in the starting lineup in place of Porzingis.

Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard returned Sunday after missing Friday’s matchup between the teams due to knee pain. Forwards Aaron Nesmith (ankle) and Obi Toppin (ankle) remained out for Indiana.

Carlisle backs big man

Porzingis has dealt with some nagging injuries during his 1½ seasons with the Celtics, as well as throughout his career. But Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who coached Porzingis during his 2½ seasons with the Mavericks, made it clear that the absences should not be mistaken for a lack of desire.

“He’s a tough guy,” Carlisle said. “He wants to play. He’s a tremendous practice player, he’s a great worker. When you have a (7-foot-2-inch) body like that, it’s going to present some challenges, especially with the dynamic way he plays. He’s going to move around the court like a guard. But I’ll tell you this, the guy is a competitor. He’s a total team guy, and whenever he has an injury he does everything in his power to get back as quickly as possible.

“I was very surprised when he played in the deciding game [of the NBA Finals] last year. It just seemed like these guys, without him, were probably going to be OK anyway. But that’s just him. He wants to play, he wants to help his team, he wants to be part of the team. I know it meant a lot to him to win a championship, and I’m super happy for him for being able to experience that here.”

Tatum grabs attention

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum entered Sunday averaging a career-high 9.6 rebounds, good for 17th in the NBA. He had reached double digits in rebounds in eight consecutive games, including a pair of 15-rebound performances.

“The way we match up, he finds himself on the [opposing center] a lot, and so he’s down closer to the basket,” Mazzulla said. “But it’s another way for him to assert himself with his ability to rebound. He does a good job of balancing pushing it in transition himself, which he’s been more aggressive there, and finding outlet passes to [a teammate]. So it’s just him asserting himself and doing what we need him to do. And he’s willing to do that. So it’s important that he continues to rebound at a high level really on both ends of the floor.”

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Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.