Boston Celtics: Gordon Hayward shines in win over the Cleveland Cavaliers

The Boston Celtics are seeing huge returns from a player that most pundits—including the Houdini—have written off. Gordon Hayward continued his comeback season in Cleveland in yet another win.

On Tuesday Night, the Boston Celtics saw the resurgence of small forward Gordon Hayward, as he dropped 39 points on 17/20 shooting — tying his career high — leading Beantown to a 119-113 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It was two years ago on opening night where Hayward suffered his catastrophic injury in Cleveland, breaking his tibia and dislocating his ankle, causing him to miss all of the 2017-18 season.

He didn’t have the best 2018-19 campaign, as he was still finding his footing while coming back from the gruesome injury. He certainly had his good games, but the consistent contribution was never there.

Last season, Hayward averaged 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists on 46% shooting. So far this year, he’s averaging 20.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists on 56.5% shooting.

It’s a small sample size, but that’s an insane improvement, a sign that Hayward can get back to his All-Star form.

Specifically, against the Cavaliers, Hayward often found himself in a good match-up against the poor Cleveland defense, giving up the 12th most points to their opponents so far. 

The 29-year-old took advantage of players such as Cedi Osman, Larry Nance Jr., and Alfonzo McKinnie, aggressively driving and cutting to the basket to get quick, easy points. Again and again Hayward found himself under the basket, finishing with easy layups.

Hayward also contributed to the team in other ways besides scoring, racking up seven rebounds and eight assists. His play making has always been a strength of his game, averaging 4.3 assists per game so far this year.

As for Hayward’s impact on the team, if he can show the consistent offensive production that was lacking last year, it will lift this Boston Celtics team into contender status. With the growth of wings Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, along with the veteran consistency from Kemba Walker and Hayward, they will be hard to stop. Not to mention everyone’s favorite Marcus Smart.

For the overall game, Boston shot a sizzling 56.5% from the field, mainly due to Hayward’s ability to get easy buckets. They also out-rebounded Cleveland, despite allowing 12 offensive rebounds compared to their mere 4.

Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum came back with more consistent performances, with 25 and 18 points respectively.

Off the bench, it’s clear that rookie Carsen Edwards loves the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, having his best game as a pro. In preseason, he made headlines for hitting eight threes in the third quarter in Cleveland. This game, he scored 13 points in 15 minutes, the spark that the Celtics have desperately been looking for off the bench.

One rotational change to look out for is the surprising emergence of rookie Javonte Green. He earned the final roster spot at the end of the preseason, and he got five minutes at the end of the first quarter over third-year forward Semi Ojeleye.

Ojeleye has been one of Stevens’ favorites throughout the years, but he hasn’t shown any signs of offensive growth this year, something that this bench unit is lacking. He has averaged 1.2 points per game thus far in 2019-20.

In the game, Green only finished with five minutes compared to Ojeleye’s eight, but it’s something to look out for as the season progresses.

Although this game may have been unnecessarily close, the Boston Celtics proved that they can contend if they put it all together, leading with the emergence of Gordon Hayward.