NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Nets forward Gerald Wallace will miss his sixth straight game Thursday against the Boston Celtics because of a sprained left ankle.
"I'm not playing tomorrow," Wallace told ESPN NewYork.com at a TopSpin charity event Wednesday in Manhattan. "I'm basically day to day. I'm just doing what they tell me. I'll be re-evaluated in the morning and then we'll go from there."
The Nets confirmed that Wallace is out on Thursday morning. Coach Avery Johnson is hopeful that Wallace will practice Saturday. Then the Nets will figure out if he's going to be available at some point during the team's three-game West Coast road trip, which begins Sunday in Sacramento.
Wallace has been out since initially suffering the injury late in Brooklyn's season-opening victory over the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 3.
Despite not having the versatile 30-year-old defender in their lineup, the Nets (4-2), who have won three straight, entered Thursday ranked sixth in the NBA in fewest points allowed per game (92.2).
But they've struggled to defend stretch forwards in the past, meaning Brandon Bass and Jeff Green could thrive with Wallace out.
"I think we'll play good," Wallace said. "Our bench has started to come into its own. Our team is starting to get better. Our defense has really picked up. We've just got to be a lot more consistent."
Reserve shooting guard MarShon Brooks will play Thursday after missing the past three games because of a sprained left ankle.
