The Boston Celtics� road to an NBA championship just got harder. In game 1 against the 76ers, small forward Gordon Hayward suffered an ankle injury. He jumped to grab a rebound, then landed awkwardly and twisted his ankle severely.
Hayward is expected to miss 4 weeks of action. This means he won�t return until at least the Eastern Conference Finals (if the Celtics make it that far).�
This is very unfortunate and untimely news for Hayward, who was starting to look more and more like the All-Star caliber player he was in Utah before the horrible injury he suffered in 2017. After a down year in his first season back in 2018-19, Hayward took on a much larger role for the Celtics this year – and produced.
He started all 52 games he appeared in, averaging 17.5 points on 50.0/38.3/85.5 shooting splits. Hayward grabbed a career-high 6.7 rebounds per game as well.
As of now, head coach Brad Stevens hasn�t made a statement on who will replace Hayward in the lineup. However, defensive-minded guard Marcus Smart, who started 40 games in the regular season, will likely be the one called on.
The Celtics are currently up 2-0 against the 76ers in their best-of-7 series. They�ll look to carry the momentum into Game 2 without Gordon Hayward.�
