Gordon Hayward unsure when he’ll be able to return after ankle sprain: ‘No one knows’
It didn’t take long for Gordon Hayward to know he had tweaked his ankle in Game 1 of the Boston Celtics’ opening-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.
He knew right away.
“I heard it and I felt it, and I knew it wasn’t just your casual rolled ankle,” he said Thursday. “It immediately, it was swollen by the time I was leaving the court. I knew it was definitely worse than normal.”
Hayward expected to miss four weeks
The 30-year-old went down in the fourth quarter of their 109-101 win on Monday, and left with just more than three minutes remaining in the game. He was helped off the court and was seen later with a boot on his right ankle.
Hayward was eventually diagnosed with a Grade III ankle sprain, and is expected to miss about four weeks. Hayward was averaging 17.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game this season, his 10th in the league.
To complicate his timeline even more, Hayward and his wife are expecting their fourth child at some point in September — something he has long planned to leave the bubble for. He said they’re currently working to figure out how to best go about that now, and if there’s a possibility that he can leave the bubble at Walt Disney World and return while recovering at the same time.
The Celtics did take a 2-0 lead against the 76ers on Wednesday without him. They’ll likely have to make a deeper playoff run to get him back to the court this season, however, as the NBA Finals are currently slated to start on Sept. 30.
"As far as timeline, it's kind of up in the air, I think," Hayward said. "It's kind of just how my body responds to the rehab and all that stuff. So it's hard to say. But no one knows, really."
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