The Boston Celtics’ full health run lasted a shadowy 45 minutes before Gordon Hayward sustained a straight ankle injury in the fourth quarter of Friday’s Game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers after sound came on the foot of teammate Daniel Theis.
Boston stepped into its playoff opener with all 17 of its available players and none at a minute limit, something that has hardly happened since opening night against the Sixers in October.
Now the Celtics have to brace themselves for playing without Hayward until the Eastern Conference Finals.
Miss the coverage of NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics 76ers Game 2, which begins Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live, followed by tip-off at 6:30 p.m. You can also stream the game on the MyTeams App.
The team announced Tuesday that Hayward is expected to be diagnosed with a Grade III infection four weeks later. Hayward is also expected to leave the bubble sometime in September when his wife, Robyn, delivers the family’s fourth child, something that will return him to a four-day quarantine upon return.
Losing Hayward strips is part of what makes Boston so unique. Few teams have a former All-Star as a fourth option. Minder has a Swiss Army knife from a participant who dutifully does what he can to accentuate the talent around him, all the while critics lament the size of his contract compared to his scoring output.
Go through the tape of Game 1 and Hayward’s influence goes beyond his modest baseline of 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Boston loses a stiff ball dealer who made the second unit often quarterbacked and open shots for teammates.
Boston loses one of its long-armed defenders who can disrupt entrance passes, overpower with the help of cheering Joel Embiid and turning them into easy scoring opportunities.
Boston loses its fastest regular on the floor, a player who touches the ball as much as Kemba Walker, and who rebounds at a better rate than some of the team’s bigs.
The Celtics have the luxury of filling many of Hayward’s minutes with Marcus Smart. But Stevens has often tried to keep Smart in a reserve role, his presence supporting that second group and delivering a ton of energy as starters come off the floor.
Stevens has to decide if it’s best to lift Smart and maybe change his exchange pattern with the goal of keeping another starter on the floor in places where Hayward would have played, or if he’s a less used player in that starting role could plug and that limits the player’s loads when running with the team’s three best scorers.
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This could have been an easier decision if rookie Romeo Langford had not torn ligaments in his right hand in the final of the team’s seedling match.
Langford looked in the post season for spot minutes as a rule, but will have to play due to the inconvenience of an injury that would eventually require surgery. Langford has actually been this before, and played much of his lone season at the University of Indiana with a thumb injury to his shooting hand. But it certainly added a layer of complication to fill Hayward’s minutes with a traditional wing.
Stevens can deploy rookie Grant Williams or veteran Semi Oeieye on the 4, or see how rookie Javonte Green responds as a more traditional winger. Maybe that’s durable in short bursts, but it also puts a lot of pressure on core starters like Walker, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown to play bigger minutes, all with games scheduled every other day. It also means that these core comrades will see much more attention when they are on the floor, as defenses challenge Smart to defeat them.
Hayward’s absence hinders Boston, but should not prevent them from advancing past the Sixers. Things get dull in the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference with a potential matchup dragging against the Raptors. Hayward’s absence feels big enough to potentially tip the balance of that series, given how even those teams play in the regular season.
In the bigger picture, it’s a gut punch for Hayward, who has been through his entire Boston office due to injuries.
Beyond the ankle injury in his Boston debut, Hayward missed extended time earlier this season after breaking his hand in a freak collision in San Antonio. He has missed 101 of a possible 236 games in the regular season over the last three seasons.
Hayward may opt for the final year of his Boston deal after this season, one that will pay him the final $ 34 million of his $ 128 million deal.
The positive tint with green tint: If the Celtics know one thing, it plays through absences. Next man up has been a way of life for Stevens’ teams. Now they will have to do it again on the playoff stage in hopes that they can stay alive long enough for Hayward to get back on the floor.
