The Celtics will be missing two of their best players as they begin a four-game Western Conference road trip Thursday night.

Boston ruled out starters Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis for its matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center. Both players traveled with the team and had been listed as questionable.

It’s the sixth straight game in which the Celtics will not have their full preferred starting lineup available. That group, which also includes Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, has played just 85 minutes together this season.

Brown, who played in the previous 13 games and 22 of the last 23, suffered a right shoulder sprain during Tuesday’s blowout win over the Raptors. He played a season-low 25 minutes in the 54-point battering of Toronto and wore a large ice pack on his shoulder late in the game.

Brown had one of his best shooting performances of the season against Minnesota on Nov. 24, going 7-for-10 from 3-point range in a 107-105 Celtics win at TD Garden.

This is the fourth consecutive DNP for Porzingis, who sprained his left ankle during Boston’s Christmas Day loss to Philadelphia and hasn’t played since. The 7-foot-2 center told reporters at Thursday’s morning shootaround that he was “definitely getting close,” potentially teasing a return to the lineup Friday night in Houston.

Porzingis also missed the Celtics’ first 17 games following offseason leg surgery. He’s made just 11 appearances this season, and though he’s brought a major boost to Boston’s rim protection when active, his per-game averages are down in nearly every statistical category.

The ankle sprain was the third injury Porzingis suffered since making his season debut on Nov. 25.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s super annoying, super frustrating to not be able to catch a good rhythm and already, boom, some small thing happens and you’re out for a couple games,” he told reporters in Minnesota, via MassLive.com. “Just to be dealing with this. It’s part of the life we choose. My body is obviously very particular, so these things can happen to me.”

The absences will put more pressure on Tatum, who leads the Celtics in points, assists, rebounds and steals per game this season. Tatum started slow in each of the last two games, scoring just five first-half points in each while shooting 20% from the floor.