Boston Celtics: Gordon Hayward is team’s X-factor

Gordon Hayward is coming off a major injury last season for the Boston Celtics. This season he’s struggled finding his role, but has caught fire lately and helped the team win their previous two games.

The Boston Celtics signed Gordon Hayward to a max contract during the 2017 offseason. He’s currently making a little over $31 million, which is the most on the team. For someone to be making that money, it would be expected that they’d be a large part of the team’s success.

In Hayward’s case, that hasn’t been true, but it’s hard to fault him because of the severity of his injury. There’s no doubt that he can still return to his previous All-Star form, though it’ll take time and repetitions to get there. Besides the five minutes he played in before a gruesome season-ending injury, he was unable to step on the court again last season.

This year, Hayward is averaging 11.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He hasn’t shot the ball well either, only shooting 41.9 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from 3. Of the 34 games he’s suited up in, he’s started in 16.

Moving Hayward to the bench has been the best decision for both himself and the team. This has allowed him to have more opportunities to shoot the ball and play more freely. His points total since coming off the bench only went from 10.2 points per game to 12.1 per game, but his efficiency has risen.

He’s shooting 45.0 percent from the field and 36.1 from 3 coming off the bench. He struggled as a starter, shooting 38.4 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from downtown. That’s a massive turnaround and will go a long way for both parties.

Hayward may be starting to turn things around based off his previous two performances. Since the new year started, he’s averaged 25.5 points, 6.5 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game. Each game was a little different than the other.

In the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Hayward was torching things on the offensive end. He finished with a season-high 35 points, shooting 14-of-18 from the field and 4-for-7 from 3-point range. Anytime it seemed like Minnesota was going to make a comeback, he’d simply continue to make shots.

The win over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night proved to be a different style of play, as he filled up the stat sheet in three categories. Hayward was unable to finish with a triple-double, but did put together 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

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Both of these games resulted in double-digit wins. Hayward played a large role in these games and if he can continue to play like this, Boston will be a completely different team. If and when that happens, the Celtics will have a nice three-headed monster of Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum and Hayward, with Al Horford serving as their veteran leader who provides nice two-way play.

Then mix in the grit and energy Marcus Smart and Marcus Morris have brought to the team and things are starting to look up. This team could look a lot different by the end of the season if they can turn the corner.

The Celtics are currently 23-15, only fifth in the Eastern Conference race. This was not expected from Boston, which was viewed as one of the top NBA teams. The team has struggled finding its rhythm and identity since Hayward’s return, but if he can figure things out himself, it may take a sharp right turn.

Hayward was a former All-Star and while he won’t be one this season, he has the ability to still play like one. The Celtics still have a great chance to contend for the Eastern Conference title, and Hayward potentially reaching a new level may in fact put them over the top.

The Celtics are 2-0 since 2019 started and it may not be a coincidence that in those games Hayward has looked like an All-Star. He’s the team’s X-factor and it’s started to show since the start of the new year.