Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward is officially being listed as questionable for Thursday night's matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks. According to a report from Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports and RealGM, the 28-year-old twisted his non-surgically repaired ankle in a workout on Tuesday:
Brad Stevens said this morning that Gordon Hayward twisted his right ankle (the non-surgically repaied ankle) in a workout yesterday. Stevens expects Hayward to be listed as questionable for tomorrow night's game at the Milwaukee Bucks.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) February 20, 2019
Hayward has been playing well as of late. In his last outing — a 118-110 victory over the Detroit Pistons before the All-Star break — he logged 34 minutes, scoring 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field (1-of-3 from beyond the arc), eight assists, five rebounds and one steal:
“It was good the way we ended going into the break,” Hayward told ESPN. “It definitely builds some momentum.”
In his 53 appearances with the Celtics this season (17 starts), Hayward has racked up averages of 11.2 points on 43.8 percent shooting form the field (33.7 percent from downtown), 4.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and one steal in 26.0 minutes per contest.
If Hayward is indeed ruled out of Thursday night's game, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will likely see a bit more playing time. Tatum heard his name tossed about in trade talks before the deadline, but he isn't taking it personal:
“I get asked that question a lot,” Tatum told NBC Sports Boston. “And my response is always the same; control what I can control, I don’t take it personal. I understood coming in that it is a business. They have to make the best decision for them, whatever that may be. Especially right now; I can’t control it.”
In other Celtics-related injury news, Kyrie Irving seems to be recovering well from a strained right knee. In fact, Uncle Drew took part in this year's All-Star Game, despite the fact that he had missed six of Boston's previous 11 games before the break. Both Irving and Terry Rozier (illness) are expected to be available for the team's next game.
Thursday night's Celtics-Bucks game is scheduled to tip inside Fiserv Forum at 8:00 p.m. ET, with TNT having live broadcast coverage.
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