The Celtics need Gordon Hayward back if they want any chance at beating the Heat

The Boston Celtics have gotten by just fine without Gordon Hayward, who injured himself a month ago in Game 1 of the team’s series against the Philadelphia 76ers.

It was a Grade 3 right ankle sprain for the talented forward who has been through the ringer when it comes to injuries. Yet the Celtics made an incredible run all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals without him.

But now, they’re down 2-0 to the Miami Heat, with the Celtics reportedly taking out their frustrations in the locker room after Thursday’s loss.

They need Hayward now more than ever.

Per the Boston Globe, he was “upgraded” to doubtful from “out” on the injury report for Game 2 and he’s “now completed multiple individual workouts since returning to the Orlando bubble.”

So there’s a chance for a Game 3 return, and that would be huge. That’s because the Heat have turned to playing zone defense against the Celts, something they didn’t do in the first two rounds in the playoffs. From CBS Sports:

Through the first two rounds of playoffs, the Heat did not once use zone defense, according to Synergy. This surely relieved a Boston team coming off of a seven-game war against the Toronto Raptors littered with box-and-one and triangle-and-two schemes that nearly knocked them out of the playoffs. The Heat may be a heavy zone team, but they aren’t nearly that exotic. They’ve largely stuck to the more traditional 2-3 zone, but despite saving it for most of the playoffs, they uncorked it for 16 Game 1 possessions and doubled that total to 32 in Game 2.

The thing is, the Heat are a punishing defensive team no matter what scheme they play. Bam Adebayo is a beast in the middle, as we saw in Game 1, Jimmy Butler is a lockdown defender, Jae Crowder has played well … so it’s not like Hayward is a cure-all if and when he comes back.

But Hayward is a good slasher to the hoop who can collapse a defense or he can hit open shots from deep. And it also isn’t necessarily about the zone, either. When you’re down 2-0, you need to change something up. Getting someone who scores 17.5 ppg in the regular season is one way to help spark a comeback.

So for the Celtics’ sake, they’re probably hoping they can get the help they so badly need.