Turning the shoulder of Anne Carter to the left, Boston Celtics Wing Gordon Hayward emerged as a craft beer enthusiast over the weekend. Spreading the ball over his palm, he was offering a mustache from the Celtic basketball gods, he was slow-moving in the middle – enough to make room for Miami heat defender Andre Igudala’s patent swipe. Enough to empty all other options. He nailed the free-throw line jumper.
When the Celtics went down 0-2 against the Heat on Thursday, Marcus Smart went to a crack so he literally popped out of the loud tax room into the meeting rooms and into the ears of reporters, triggering a news cycle of questions centered around the combustion. There will be Celtics after burning all the way up to white dynamite sticks.
Haywood’s arrival was cut short by the stress of passing through the pockets of three heat defenders and hitting Daniel Thiss who was not sitting on the shore – no hit player wants that place, and that place no other Celtic can confidently put. .
“It’s a steady force for our team,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. “He can only play right and play for someone else at the right time.
Hayward was by no means a savior. He spent his 30 minutes in the wind. After the game he said, “I’m so bored right now.” My ankle is sore. “No one knows which version of Hayward will be shown in the rest of the series. He himself has said it’s not 100 percent. But it can’t be. The effects of the intense wave of his presence have turned him into a series.
Gordon Hayward returns to the Boston Celtics in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Conference finals. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
Why Hayward’s presence is so important to the Celtics
With 2:39 left in the first half, Thiess checked out the game for Smart and for the first time in the post season, the Celtics’ top five players took the floor together: Camba Werker, Smart, Hayward, Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown – athletic, switch, centerless lineup rarely in the regular season. Just played with. On their first trip down the floor, Tatum and Brown swung a glove between Jimmy Butler and Balm Adebayo (usually a fireworks material). As Brown pressed it, Butler hit the ball and Tatum slammed it into the other end. Miami scored only once in the remaining half. Free a parade of Boston dunks.
When the same lineup played in the second half, Brown matched Adebayo’s strength less. Tatum collected 13 defensive rebounds, the highest level of his career. I’m sure hit coach Eric Spolstra will be equipped with a counter in Game 4, but if the Celtics can get away with playing five perimeter players without accepting paint, the series could flip over his head.
Smart toe dislocation and texture line as the primary playmaker of the Celtics. Hayward’s return allowed him to reorganize into his secondary creator and spend his spending on defense, where he knocked out Goran Drake in his worst game of the series. Vsc, a scoring point guard, can go back to doing what he does best.
In Hayward’s absence, his teammates expanded their roles and survived. Its presence allows them to retreat in a more comfortable posture.
The Celtics can now outscore a lot of playmakers at all times and are equipped with the depth and complexity needed to answer an unbelievable question in the play: How do you score on Miami’s defense? Suddenly, everything seems different. A healthy Celtics team can throw back the unresolved Cowandries in Miami. Hayward’s return is not a cheat code, but his vision gives the Celtics a road map.
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