Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said Gordon Hayward will get the nod to start during a Christmas Day matchup against the Toronto Raptors, the first of five games in the holiday slate.
Brad Stevens says Gordon Hayward is “good to go.”
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) December 25, 2019
Hayward has been dealing with soreness in his left foot, a nagging issue that has caused him to miss the last three games. The team expects him to play, listing him as probable after several days of rest.
“We’ll be alert to his minutes,” said Stevens, according to Jay King of The Athletic. “Again, we’re not worried about it being a muscular thing or a structural thing, it’s nothing tied to the old injury, like (he) just has a little bit of pain that now, five days later, feels better.”
Hayward is likely to receive a cortisone shot to help him manage the pain, given that all the tests indicate he's structurally sound.
“That’s kind of been the frustrating piece is that we haven’t figured out exactly what the issue is,” said Hayward on Tuesday. “Structurally my foot is fine. We did all the imaging we needed to do and did it a second time as well. So I hope this cortisone injection works.”
The 6-foot-8 forward has dealt with his share of nicks since returning from a month-long absence due to a hand injury, including a nasty bloody nose after taking a shot to the face during a game against the Indiana Pacers earlier this month. Hayward is still frustrated with the injuries keeping him off the hardwood.
“I wasn't playing and you would think I could figure it out while my hand was broke,” said Hayward. “The fact that it was getting worse was frustrating to everybody. We were calling all the way around the country to figure it out. Hopefully, we did.”
The 29-year-old is having a strong bounce-back season, averaging 17.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in 2019-20, but a lot of his success will depend on whether he can remain off the sidelines or not.
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