Coach Stevens encouraged by Hayward’s recovery; ‘He’s responded well’

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens is happy with Gordon Hayward’s reintegration in terms of both health and fit.

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens is optimistic about veteran forward Gordon Hayward’s role with the team after a succesful, even impactful, return to the rotation in the Celtics’ Game 3 win over the Miami Heat in the East Finals Saturday, encouraged by his solid play over extended minutes.

“He’s just getting back,” shared Stevens of Hayward on Monday of the Butler product, who has been out since Game 1 of the team’s first round series against the Philadelphia 76ers.

“He hasn’t played in four and a half weeks, so 30 minutes was a huge plus,” added the Celtics coach. “It was one of those deals where he looked pretty good the whole time.”

Hayward’s numbers for the game do not jump off the screen at 6 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and a block, but his imprint on the game was undeniable.

It was nearly too much for him after the long layoff, though.

“He asked to be taken out a few times, but I thought for the most part it looked pretty good, and that … is a good thing because now he knows he can do that. And it’s good that we had this little break in-between and knowing that was important, but also as far as incorporating him, we need to just find the best shot for our team.”

“And that is going to be surrounded or centered around our best players, but it’s not going to be a ‘Hey, we’ve got to get this person to get 20 tonight, or this person to get 20 shots,'” added Stevens.

True to form, the emphasis with this club is nearly always on the team — and while that can create its own problems, it’s also what’s needed against such a well-balanced Heat team.

“We’re just going to make the right play for our team, and that’s all we need — that’s all we’re focused on, that’s all we want to do. And he’s good at that; he’s good at playing off the ball and he’s good at cutting, he’s good at making the next right play and he’s okay if he doesn’t have.”

“He didn’t shoot it 15 times — that doesn’t bother him,” observed the former Butler head honcho.

Asked for more detail on Hayward’s ankle in light of all the minutes he got in his return and the further passage of vital recovery time, Stevens elaborated.

“He’s responded well,” he explained.

“He put in a lot of work to get ready for that … I thought there were times where he obviously wanted to come out and we took him out for a quick breather. But I was more worried about the conditioning aspect of it than necessarily the structure of the ankle.”

At this point in the postseason, avoiding re-injury due to fatigue is critical, so a lot of caution is being brought to bear in judging Hayward’s situation with regard to the status of his healing ankle.

That the schedule threw Boston a bone due to a conflict with Monday Night Football only helped the medical staff’s decision-making.

“Our training staff felt really good about where he was and how much work he had put in, and then it looked like it was going to be able to handle it, knowing we had four days off and knowing the recovery was going to have a little bit more time.”

“Sometimes when you come back and you’re on a minutes restriction, and you play 15, or 20 [minutes], then … 22, … 24, the next step is 26. He knows he can,” emphasized Stevens.

“He can do it as long as we pace those things well, and so that’s what we’ll keep doing and … he won’t get to 40 but he’ll play minutes.”

[jwplayer fjWaqowi]

[lawrence-related id=41993,41991,41988,41976]