Gordon Hayward’s All-Star start for Boston Celtics derailed by broken hand

For the first time since signing with the Boston Celtics in 2017, Gordon Hayward was delivering All-Star level play until he broke his hand Saturday night.

It’s been a rough ride for Gordon Hayward since he signed his four-year, $128 million max deal with the Boston Celtics in July 2017.

His first season ended five minutes after it began when he dislocated his left ankle and broke his left tibia in his debut for the Celtics against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 17, 2017.

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In his return last season, he put up some of his worst numbers since his first and second seasons in the NBA as Hayward appeared to be a shell of the player he had been, a player named an All-Star for the Utah Jazz in 2017.

This season, now two years removed from the devastating leg injury, Hayward was finally showing the Celtics and their fan base what he could be when operating at 100 percent. Through the first seven games this season, Hayward was averaging 20.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 33.5 minutes per game.

He was also shooting a sizzling 56.4 percent overall and 44.4 percent on 3.9 3-point attempts per game.

Hayward showed signs of breaking out on opening night, even as Boston was taking a lopsided loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. The veteran wing scored 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting.

He broke out in a win at Cleveland — the same place where his woes began — on Tuesday, scoring 39 points with eight assists and seven rebounds while shooting a perfect 16-for-16 from 2-point range (he was 17-for-20 overall). A double-double at Charlotte on Thursday — 20 points, 10 rebounds to go with six assists — seemed like it was becoming the norm.

The most notable change in Hayward’s approach was his willingness to take the ball to the rack. After averaging just 5.7 drives per game and converting only 51.8 percent of his shots on those penetration efforts last season, Hayward was the most effective driver on the team so far this season.

Hayward was taking the ball off the bounce 11.5 times per game and converting 63.4 percent of his shot attempts (5.1 per game, up from 1.9 a night last season), the best rate among Boston players with at least 10 drives through the first eight games.

That 63.4 mark is tied for third in the NBA among players with at least five drives per game. Only Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks (69.6 percent) and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks (67.7 percent) have been more efficient finishers off the bounce. (Brown is seventh at 59.1 percent, for the record.)

But his renaissance came to a screeching halt — at least temporarily — in the second quarter Saturday night during Boston’s 135-115 drubbing of the San Antonio Spurs. Hayward ran into a screen from LaMarcus Aldridge and immediately motioned to the bench for a substitute. Aldridge was called for an offensive foul on the play.

The Celtics later announced Hayward would not return after breaking his left hand. According to Tom Westerholm of MassLive.com, Hayward will be re-evaluated on Sunday, when doctors are expected to make a decision about surgery.

Coach Brad Stevens said the vibe around this injury is much different than in 2017.

"“This one doesn’t feel near as bad as it did two years ago. He’ll be back. He’ll be off for a few weeks or a month or whatever it is.”"

Rookie Javonte Green got the news from Hayward before returning to the court for the second half.

"“Ever since I got here, I looked up to G. I love his work ethic. It’s sad it had to be him, but we’ll keep this train going, everything is for him.”"

Green was one of the beneficiaries in the immediate wake of the injury, logging 13 second-half minutes in Boston’s runaway win. The undrafted rookie from Radford also played 13 minutes in the win over Charlotte after logging just nine minutes through the first six games for the Celtics.

Hayward’s injury leaves a big hole at the 3 spot, where he had played 80 percent of his minutes so far this season, per Basketball-Reference.com.

Stevens could use Jaylen Brown more frequently at the 3 — he’s spending about 50 percent of his time there even as he has started all five games he’s played the 2 — with Marcus Smart rejoining the first unit at his familiar position at the 2.

Smart is playing starter’s minutes, 30.0 per game, though he’s only made three starts filling in during Brown’s three-game absence due to an infection.

Green can play both wing positions, while Semi Ojeleye or Grant Williams could be candidates for more time at the 3. Alternatively, Smart has played a bit at the 3 this season — he is a stretch 6, after all — while Brad Wanamaker and rookie Romeo Langford are also options for more wing minutes.

Langford, a first-round pick out of Indiana in June, has played less than a minute for the Celtics but scored 27 points with five rebounds and six blocked shots in 33 minutes in his NBA G League debut for the Maine Red Claws on Saturday and could be a candidate to be recalled from his assignment to the Portland-based affiliate club.

The Celtics improved to 7-1 with their win over the Spurs and their seven-game winning streak is tied for the longest in the NBA on the young campaign with the Los Angeles Lakers’ current seven-game run.

Boston does lose one of its three players who entered play Saturday averaging at least 20 points per game (Kemba Walker leads the team at 24.5 points a night and Jayson Tatum is at 21.3), but the Celtics should have the depth to weather Hayward’s absence without a complete collapse.

Brown is putting up 18.8 points per game thus far on career-best 52.2 percent shooting and Smart is becoming more effective from 3-point range as his career progresses. Smart is taking a career-high 6.5 deep tries per game and is hitting 34.6 percent of them thus far, just off last season’s career-best pace of 36.4 percent.

The Boston Celtics have seldom seen the best of Gordon Hayward since he signed with the club roughly 2½ years ago, but this latest setback should not be one that hampers him in the long run.