‘He makes us better’ : Boston Celtics ‘really missed’ Gordon Hayward

Veteran forward Gordon Hayward’s Celtics teammates were very happy to have him back in the fold for Game 3 of their East Finals series with the Miami Heat.

Gordon Hayward’s Boston Celtics teammates were not shy about sharing how much they missed him after Saturday’s Game 3 win against the Miami Heat.

While his stat line wasn’t exactly eye-popping at 6 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and a block, his imprint on the game was still unmistakable, perhaps even instrumental in preventing the Celtics from falling into a likely insurmountable 0-3 hole in their East Finals series.

“Gordon was great,” praised teammate Jaylen Brown. “[A] welcome back for Gordon.”

What does the Butler product provide that had been missing in his absence?

“Just having an extra body and other guy that can make plays was huge for us,” offered Brown.

“He had some big plays during this game and he’s only going to continue to go up. I think that just being together, and being locked in and not relaxing, not taking a break because as soon as you turn your head or you relax, those guys are flying off shooting threes so you got to be locked in the whole time to find ways to win.”

Head coach Brad Stevens revealed he had not anticipated playing Hayward 31 minutes, but events outside of his control forced the issue.

“I didn’t expect to play him that much,” explained Stevens, “but it was [Marcus] Smart, in some foul trouble at the end of the third [quarter and] Theis foul trouble [that made it necessary].”

“I thought [Hayward] looked pretty good. And we have four days off, so that’s why I didn’t say [to come out of the game]; we’re just going to monitor him to see how he looks. he asked to come out a couple times. The wind caught up to him a couple times I thought he did what he’s done all year; he didn’t shoot it quite as much. But he is a stabilizing force for our team. He just can make the right play and make a play for somebody else at the right time and he hit the big three as they were making a run.”

“He makes us better, that’s for sure,” added the Celtics coach.

Fellow All-Star alumnus Jayson Tatum couldn’t agree more strongly, perhaps taking a swipe at a former Celtic’s opinion on Hayward’s fit with the team longer-term in the process.

“It meant everything, obviously; we played a while without him,” observed Tatum. “And I’ve stated before, it’s crazy for anybody to think we’re better without him.”

“We’re so much better when he’s out there; so much more dynamic, so much more versatile when he’s out there. So it felt great to have our full team back; he played great in his first game. He’s going to continue to get better, to get his feel back, so to have him back, man — it was everything.”

The general sentiment was echoed by All-Star point guard Kemba Walker.

The UConn product has struggled in the absence of his former NCAA foe, and Walker’s game was an immediate beneficiary of Hayward’s return in terms of both scoring volume and accuracy.

“It’s always good when you have one of your best players back,” suggested Walker. “He’s someone that we need. He came in with his feel for the game, it’s just something that we’ve missed. He was great. He made great plays down the stretch — he was really, really good.”

“It changes a lot, because he’s able to guard a lot of different guys, which helps us whenever we switch,” noted the New Yorker.

“He’s big for us on both ends of the floor. Like I said — and I can’t say it enough — we really missed him. Physically, we missed his voice, his presence.”

It’s pretty hard to argue otherwise, even if you only look at the final score.

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