Gordon Hayward Fractured His Left Hand Against The Spurs

The Boston Celtics have looked like one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference to start the season, a surprise to many given their offseason in which they lost two key contributors in Kyrie Irving and Al Horford. While adding Kemba Walker was expected to take the sting out of Irving’s departure, few expected them to be able to find their defensive footing without Horford’s presence.

So far, they’ve done just that and entered Saturday evening’s game against San Antonio at 6-1, the best record in the East. One of the reasons for their stellar play to start the season has been the resurgence of Gordon Hayward, who has looked like the player they expected to get when they signed him to a max in 2017. Hayward missed all but six minutes of his first year in Boston with a gruesome ankle injury, and seemed to spend last year trying to find a comfort level on the floor.

This year, through seven games, he’d looked spectacular and the Celtics were firing on all cylinders. In the second quarter against the Spurs, though, Hayward got cracked by a LaMarcus Aldridge screen, that was called for an offensive foul, and had to leave the game.

X-rays would show that Hayward had fractured his left hand, and would miss the remainder of the game.

It’s a brutal blow for the Celtics and Hayward, who will once again have to work his way back from an injury. We’ll have to wait to see on the severity of the injury, likely following an MRI, to learn of a timetable for his possible return.