After a few years of rumors including Gordon Hayward reuniting with former head coach Brad Stevens, Celtics fans finally got what they wanted this past July.
With all of the moves and trades that Danny Ainge pulled off this was a highly anticipated season. They all lead up to an Eastern Conference Finals rematch on opening night. Unfortunately, Gordon Hayward suffered a gruesome ankle injury just five minutes into his Boston Celtics career.
The injury looked worse than what most sources are reporting less than 24 hours later. Some say that Hayward could return as early as March, if surgery and the recovery process goes well.
Aside from a basketball standpoint, this is truly catastrophic for Hayward. When he was on the floor he appeared to be in agony, but he handled it very well. At first people were saying this could potentially be career changing or even ending, which would devastate anyone. Hayward made the decision to come here and change his career by reuniting with his college coach and to have a legitimate shot at a ring. Hopefully, he can make a full recovery and come back better than ever when he is ready.
Although this was demoralizing for both Celtics players and fans, there’s a few positive things to take away from this unfortunate situation. In the offseason, many people pointed out the possible problem that the Celtics could run into with having too many wing players. Now, in the midst of this injury, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum will have huge opportunities to prove themselves and show us all what kind of players they really are. Based on opening night, they both seemed to be ready to step up and have bigger roles. Not only do Brown and Tatum become more important pieces, but Semi Ojeleye, Terry Rozier, and Daniel Theis all have to be prepared for more minutes as well. There’s not much that changes for Al Horford or Kyrie Irving, but Marcus Smart and Marcus Morris will need to be the vocal leaders on and off the floor more than ever.
After such a terrifying injury during a game, it would be expected for a team to struggle to stay focused for the rest of the contest. Although the Celtics ultimately lost to Cleveland on opening night, it was amazing to see them battle back and only lose by 3 points.
After the injury, the Celtics did not look like the same team in the second half of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Kyrie Irving was only 7/25, and turnovers seemed to be a problem for just about everyone. I would describe it as a sloppy performance and a subpar effort, which is scary to see.
With that said, it’s only the second game of the year. Look for them to bounce back and figure things out. It will be interesting to see how the season plays out for the Celtics, and if all goes right, maybe Gordon Hayward will return for the postseason. One thing we know for sure, things have gotten a whole lot tougher for Boston.