The Boston Celtics were in good spirits Saturday evening, and for good reason.
They’d just won a critical Game 3 against the Miami Heat in their Eastern Conference series with that team after dropping the first two games of the series, and the return of veteran forward Gordon Hayward was no small part of the reason why.
Moreover, the Butler product made it clear he was there for the long haul, fortifying the team’s chances for continuing their deep run into the NBA Finals.
And no one was happier than Hayward himself, who posted about the team’s win on Twitter, noting how it felt “great to be back out there” in the “[g]ood team win”.
Good team win! Felt great to be back out there. #BleedGreen pic.twitter.com/5jpvei1RcT
— Gordon Hayward (@gordonhayward) September 20, 2020
Enes Kanter got in on the action, poking fun at an overblown postgame-blowout following the team’s Game 2 loss to the Heat on Thursday with a clip of Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker being goofy:
HATERS GONNA HATE 😉
— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) September 20, 2020
Teammate Marcus Smart — at the center of a postgame-blowout — seemed ebullient as well.
Reposting the clip retweeted by Kanter of himself as if to underscore the team’s unity, Smart echoed Hayward’s support for the team win while welcoming his teammate back.
Great team win 💯 Gordon’s back 🔥. Enes u funny man. https://t.co/EsFar2bjSd
— marcus smart (@smart_MS3) September 20, 2020
However it wasn’t all good feelings, as Kanter noticed his original celebratory tweet had been blocked in his home country, the president of whom he has had a longstanding feud with.
Unbelievable!!
This screenshot was taken in Turkey.
They literally are trying to do everything they can to stop freedom of speech!
This is proof of how much dictatorships are scared of strong voices. pic.twitter.com/SNVyfYOpkt— Enes Kanter (@EnesKanter) September 20, 2020
If there’s any takeaways from these exchanges, it’s that the postgame tiff was indeed merely a family fighting over how to best take care of business, that Boston will continue being outspoken on the things they care most about, and Gordon Hayward — and the Celtics title hopes — are back.
[jwplayer 2VEjiuDS]
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