Boston Celtics: Gordon Hayward injury finally catching up with C’s
It’s been a little over three months since Gordon Hayward broke his ankle, and his absence is starting to take a toll on this Boston Celtics team.
It was only a matter of time, right? I mean, let’s face it guys. This Boston Celtics team isn’t that different from last year’s team at the moment. When rookie Jayson Tatum and second year man Jaylen Brown are having off night’s, it’s really hard for this team to score.
Gordon Hayward was brought in to help shoulder the load, to make it so Kyrie Irving didn’t have to do everything by himself. But without Hayward? It’s just so much harder.
Lately the scoring drought’s have made themselves more notable, especially Sunday against the Cavaliers. Although, that’s a game that had a myriad of issues on both ends of the floor.
Think about it, with Horford, Kyrie AND Hayward, this team has enough offensively to be pretty balanced. It allows Brown and Tatum to be a little inconsistent.
However, that Hayward injury changes everything
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His 22 points per game could really help this ball club right now, as could his veteran presence. I think we forget just how young this Celtics team really is. Seriously, other than Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart and Marcus Morris, who on the bench is that veteran presence? Yeah, Greg Monroe. But he also just signed arrived in Boston.
I’m not focused on the Celtics opponents right now, this team can still be very special. I believe it. I believe they have what it takes to get to another Eastern Conference Finals. Brad Stevens has the All-Star break until mid-April to figure it all out before the playoffs start.
Listen, maybe part of it is fatigue. It could very well be, and maybe Gordon Hayward traveling with the team will instill energy into this group.
Whether a scorer gets bought out and finds his way to the Celtics remains to be seen, but it’s all about the current guys being able to bounce back offensively after the All-Star break.
I think the Celtics best bet is to just lock down defensively, disrupt a team’s offensive flow and get some easy buckets. Getting easy buckets makes the game so much more fun, and it opens everything up on that end of the floor.
Come April I expect this team to be much sharper offensively.
Next: 3 reasons Gordon Hayward should not rush his return
I don’t think any Celtics fan should expect anything less.