Celtics' power ball(er) when it comes to winning is...Gordon Hayward

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/celtics-power-baller-when-it-comes-winning-isgordon-hayward




Celtics' power ball(er) when it comes to winning is...Gordon Hayward



By A. Sherrod Blakely
March 28, 2019 6:26 PM




BOSTON -- When it comes to the Celtics winning, there are a ton of metrics and analytics that speak to what makes a successful night for the Green Team.

Still, if you had to hone in on one player doing solid work that generates spectacular results for Boston, the power baller when it comes to winning for Boston, is Gordon Hayward.

When Hayward has shot at least 50 percent from the field, the Celtics are a dominant 20-2, which includes wins over some of the league’s top teams, i.e., Golden State, Milwaukee and Toronto.

And when he hits the 15-point mark, Boston is an impressive 15-2.

As the Celtics look to fine tune their play with the postseason just a couple weeks away, the play of Hayward will be important to determine where this team begins the playoffs and how they’ll fare once the postseason starts.

And the game Friday night against Indiana provides yet another foe that Boston has faced this season in which Hayward’s play has had a major impact on the outcome.

When facing the Pacers for the first time this season Nov. 3, Hayward scored just four points on 2-for-10 shooting in the Celtics’ 102-101 loss.

The second matchup between these two on Jan. 9 went much better for the Celtics and Hayward.

He would come off the bench and score 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting as Boston easily defeated Indiana 135-108 at the TD Garden.

A big part of those big scoring nights for Hayward centers around ball movement.

In victories, the Celtics average 304.1 passes per game. But number takes a noticeable dip  to 284.4 passes per game in losses.


“We’re at our best when the ball is moving,” Hayward said. “We’re tough to guard too, and when guys are moving and the ball is moving and you’re opening up cuts and back doors and just allowing everybody to do their thing … ball movement is key for us.”

The same can be said for a healthy Hayward.

Hayward missed three games recently dealing with a concussion - all Boston losses.

“He looks fresh the last two games,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who added, “And did some good things, and you know you could feel not having him in those three games before just from the standpoint of, you know, settling us down and being able to play through him and make the next great play for somebody. So, it’s good to have him back and you know, hopefully he’ll continue to play well.”

The Celtics have maintained all along that Hayward is an integral part of the team playing good basketball.

And when you look at Hayward’s numbers when he plays well, you can see why there’s such optimism.


As NBC’s NBA Insider Tom Haberstroh laid out recently, the numbers don’t lie: Hayward’s success on the floor is a good thing for both him and the Celtics when it comes to winning.

While it’s not all that unusual for a team to have a winning record when a player shoots well from the field, hot nights for Hayward are often the smoothest path towards success.


bob



.

I’ve noticed he’s slowly getting it back and while not at full strength, his better play and much better ball movement whenever he’s on the floor has been huge in team looking better. I like him better than Tatum lately. The key for this teams long term success is GH getting fully healthy like 17 GH.

When Kyrie is engaged like he was last night, and Gordon is playing well and running the offense whenever Kyrie isn’t, I believe we are at our best.

Gordon is playing better, and while understandably not at a pre-injury level, I agree he is key. His distribution skills means Rozier doesn’t have to attempt being a floor general.