4 players who must step up after Hayward’s injury

Gordon Hayward

At halftime last night, Brad Stevens said the Celtics have no choice but to find a way to fill the significant gap left by Gordon Hawyard’s injury. Today, we have to do something no one wanted to do… figure out who that will be.

On Boston.com, I detailed four player who have to absolutely step up in Hayward’s absence for the Celtics to stay afloat.

The cold, cruel sports gods dealt Gordon Hayward a horrible hand. Conservatively, he is out months, which leads to another cold discussion that needs to be had.

Who fills the void?

A very Belichickian analysis of this situation is suddenly very necessary. The basketball season is, without any overtimes, 3,936 minutes long. Assuming the worst, the Celtics will have 3,931 of those minutes will be spent without Hayward on the floor.

Someone has play those minutes. Here’s who’ll be counted on the most.

1. Jayson Tatum

The Celtics were counting on Hayward to score a lot of points. Someone else is going to have to score those points and the young rookie is suddenly going to have to find a way to pick up some of that slack.

Luckily for Boston, Tatum’s offensive game seems more mature than most NBA rookies.

Be sure to go to Boston.com for the full story

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