Gordon Hayward is back!
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The answer might be yes.
The question goes a little something like this: is Gordon Hayward back?
And yes, I know he played for the Boston Celtics a good amount last season, but I mean is he BACK as in being a great basketball player.
The way things are going, let's just say I'm very optimistic about him.
Just look at the way he dominated on Tuesday, dropping 39 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers (which are not a relevant force these days because, as we all know, LeBron James carried them). Yes, to answer that question, it was a career-high for him.
Although that game kind of skews things a little bit, it shows he is capable of going off still. And this season, he is averaging 20.3 points per contest -- which some would say is pretty good.
The Celtics are off to a strong start this season. They're 6-1 through their first seven games. It's hard to infer much from this small data sampling, but it is a good sign nonetheless. If they were 0-7 and losing every game by say 30 points, we would know there is a problem....
As we know, Hayward missed basically the entire 2017-2018 NBA season with an ACL tear and last year was kind of just him working his way back. He was legit a backup, only starting in 18 of the 72 regular games he played in. For a guy who should be like an All-Star level talent, it was absolutely a letdown.
It's really going to be fun watching Hayward do what he is capable of for the first time in his three seasons with the Celtics. So far, it has not worked out as people hoped, but this is a great opportunity for him to redeem himself. Early on in, he's capitalizing on that chance.