What Gordon Hayward’s return means for the Boston Celtics

Gordon Hayward and his new cyborg hand are slated to return this week after a being sidelined for nearly a month. Here’s what that return means for the Boston Celtics.

Gordon Hayward, who injured his left hand November 9th vs San Antonio, returned Monday night for the Boston Celtics in a win vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers. With three games in the next five days it’s safe to expect Hayward to return to being a regular member of the rotation–without any minutes restriction.

This was way ahead of schedule for Hayward, who was initially slated to return closer to Christmas. His rehab has been unusually quick, and Hayward has credited the speedy recovery to his ability to keep gaming through the rehab process.

Surgeons put a plate and screws in his left hand to help stabilize the broken hand and aid recovery, a procedure that Hayward believes has made his left hand actually “stronger than his right hand.” This is the second set of titanium hardware placed in Hayward’s body…in addition to the plates and screws in his ankle–and coupled with his elite fast twitch reflexes honed in the crucible of competitive online gaming–Hayward is perhaps the closest thing to a cyborg the NBA has ever seen.

In any event, Hayward’s return should be a boon to an already clicking Boston Celtics offensive attack. In his absence Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have taken another step forward and shouldered much of the offensive scoring deficit. Since Hayward’s injury, Tatum and Brown have averaged 21.2 and 20.5 points per game respectively. They established themselves as the de-facto drivers of the offense over that time considering the relative cooling of Kemba Walkers hot start.

Marcus Smart and Brad Wannamaker have also stepped up immensely both in scoring and playmaking. Both have increased their scoring and assist averages over that time. Wannamaker in particular has rose to the occasion, playing almost twice as many minutes as he did pre-injury and keeping his production steady.

The Celtics’ biggest struggle this season has been their first quarter scoring, which has only been magnified with Hayward’s absence. They are currently sitting at 28th in the league for first quarter scoring, averaging a mere 25.1 points on the season with the likes of bottom-dwellers like New York and Cleveland. The addition of Hayward should alleviate some of those struggles by the simple fact of adding another scorer and play-maker to the lineup.

Hayward will also add another play-maker to their possible lineup configurations. Wanamaker has been great as their third ball-handler this season, but Hayward adds another dimension not only with his ability to attack off the dribble and get in the paint, but hit ability to guard bigger players. Wanamaker has been great as their third ball-handler, but Hayward will add some add defensive versatility that Wanamaker lacked.

This will be especially important in Thursday nights showdown against the Philadelphia 76ers, whose uber-long lineups have the potential to give the undersized Boston Celtics back-court trouble. Kemba Walker’s only struggles this season have come against playing bigger, more physical guards like Frank Ntilikina and Kawhii Leonard, and Hayward’s presence should alleviate some of that by sharing the ball-handling duties.

All in all, the Celtics should consider themselves fortunate that Hayward has had such an unusually speedy recovery. I suppose we have his gaming to thank!