This past Saturday, the red hot Boston Celtics faced the San Antonio Spurs for the final game of their road trip. With a minute and a half left in the second quarter, Spurs guard Dejounte Murray accelerated towards the baseline with Gordon Hayward guarding him. While Hayward was sliding to defend Murray, he ran into Spurs power forward LaMarcus Aldridge off of an illegal screen. When Hayward made contact with Aldridge, he immediately clenched his left hand and immediately goes to the locker room. What were the results of this hand injury and how will it affect Hayward and the Celtics?
Gordon Hayward’s Injury and Its Effects
Gordon Hayward’s Results
Hayward received an X-ray at the game and it revealed a fracture in his left hand. Hayward went to see a specialist in New York this past Monday and it showed that the injury was severe enough to require surgery. His surgery went very successfully and it should speed up the healing process for Hayward. Hayward is expected to miss six weeks due to the injury, we could expect a return as soon as Christmas for him. This is good for Celtics fans because even though it is a bad injury, it isn’t bad enough that it’s season-ending.
The Effects on Gordon Hayward
A question regarding this injury is how will it affect Gordon Hayward’s play? This is because Hayward had been averaging 20+ points per game and 7+ rebounds prior to the injury. This also includes a combined 59 points in the two games prior to San Antonio. Once he returns, there should be an expected scoring slump from Hayward early, but he should be back to the way he’s been playing this season. The reason for this is that the injury occurred on his non-shooting hand and he shouldn’t have anything that affected him mentally as far as this injury goes.
The Effects on the Celtics
With everything that we know about this injury, the question is should Celtics fans be worried while he is out? It’s hard to tell right now cause we’re only a few days in with him out. It’s also hard to tell because the Celtics have been playing great as of late riding an eight-game winning streak and leading the NBA in NET Rating. We should start seeing how it’ll affect them when the Celtics start their west coast road trip, which starts in only two games from now. During that road trip, they will play against the surprising Suns, the title-contending Clippers, and the well rounded Nuggets. Not only will this show how they will do offensively without Hayward, but it’ll show how deep the Celtics are this season.
Final Thoughts on Gordon Hayward
Hayward is definitely an offensive force for the Boston Celtics and will certainly be missed for a little bit. This injury will affect how Boston will run their offense because Hayward has been one of their better shooters on a team that has Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown. The starters will pretty much have to step up in Hayward’s absence, especially if they want to continue their winning streak and grow their lead in the Eastern Conference.
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