Boston Celtics

What Gordon Hayward had to say after making his preseason debut

The forward finished with 10 points and three rebounds in 23 minutes of action.

Gordon Hayward
Gordon Hayward calls a play during Friday's preseason opener against the Hornets. Lance King / Getty Images

By Trevor Hass

2 minutes to read

Gordon Hayward had been looking forward to this moment for quite some time.

After months of rehab and gradual improvement, Hayward got the start Friday night in the Celtics’ preseason opener against the Hornets. Boston lost the game, 104-97, but the night was more about gelling as a team and welcoming Kyrie Irving and Hayward back.

Hayward missed all but six minutes of last season after breaking his left tibia and dislocating his left ankle in the team’s first game, so this was a significant milestone for both him and the organization.

He finished with 10 points and three rebounds in a team-high 23 minutes, shooting 2 of 7 from the floor and 5 of 7 from the free-throw line. Afterward, he told reporters he didn’t play his best, but he said he was thrilled to get back to game action and make it out without suffering an injury.

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“It definitely was (a small victory),” he said of not getting injured. “I’ve been through a lot this last year, so just to be out there in front of the fans and playing with my teammates, there were moments last year when I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do that. So that was definitely a win.”

His first bucket came three minutes into the game, when he followed up a Jayson Tatum miss and finished an easy put-back at the rim. He never got into a rhythm from 3-point range, hitting just 1 of 5 attempts, but he made a living at the line.

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Midway through the third quarter, Hayward brought the ball up, dished it to Terry Rozier and cut to the hoop on a perfectly timed give-and-go. He beat Dwayne Bacon to the basket, got him on his back, and cautiously accelerated toward the rim from the left side, off his right foot. Hayward took a layup, missed, and got bailed out with a foul call.

A year ago, he might have elevated more, and maybe even posterized Bacon in the process. Now, as he eases his way back into the old version of himself, he believes those tricks will continue to develop the more he plays.

The next steps are acclimating to game speed, feeling comfortable in his movements, and trusting himself to come down without a nasty fall.

“The one cut to the rim, I usually would have dunked that on that one,” Hayward told reporters. “Tried to go up off my leg and just didn’t have it, I guess. So, that stuff I think will come back, that little explosion. I’m certain of that. … It was just the speed of the game, just the crowd, that’s something I need to get used to again.”

Hayward has spoken at length about how playing games is different than practicing. Just like practicing against other people was more difficult than training by himself, this is the next step in the progression.

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It was just one game, and there were plenty of positives to take away. Hayward is continuing to progress, and he’s overjoyed to be doing what he loves on a team with championship aspirations.

“Definitely good to get that one out of the way,” he said. “Didn’t feel like I played my best basketball, but I was having fun out there and it was good to be back with the guys. Definitely had some good moments, some bad ones.”