Hayward, Irving winning return

As expected, Celtics fans rained the most cheers on returning forward Gordon Hayward yesterday. Acknowledging the long and often painful rehabilitation process that the 2010 ninth overall pick underwent following a freak accident on Opening Night last year, the 18,624 who filled the TD Garden to capacity made their appreciation for him known from the get-go; they gave him a standing ovation during pregame introductions and applauded him heartily every time he touched the ball.

No doubt, Hayward was elated with the reception, and, more importantly, with the fact that he survived the game without any untoward incident. Never mind that he played poorly by his AllStar standards; he definitely felt jitters, missing his first four shots en route to a fourof-12 clip for 10 points. As far as he and all the other Celtics were concerned, he made significant headway in the 25 minutes he burned rubber; he stayed active and exhibited no fear of contact throughout, in the process also coming up with five boards, four swipes, and a third-best plus-10 line.

To be sure, Hayward wasn’t the only misfiring Celtic yesterday. Of the starters who took more than 10 field goal attempts, only sophomore Jayson Tatum managed to sink at least half. Fellow live-action returnee Kyrie Irving was particularly inaccurate, missing nine straight from tipoff, failing to score until the second half, and finishing with a mere seven markers. All the same, they wound up pleased with the outcome, a blowout victory over the rival Sixers.

If there’s any silver lining, it’s that the Celtics still managed to stamp their class despite their evident lack of sharpness. Tapped to run the table in the East, they showed that their status as preemptive favorites stems from their capacity to excel on defense regardless of circumstance. True, they scored 105, anyway. More telling, however, was their masterful shutdown of the Sixers, who could do no better than post 87 on 39.1% shooting. No wonder Hayward was smiling at the buzzer. He knew he had already done better than last year, with the best yet to come.

If there’s any silver lining, it’s that the Celtics still managed to stamp their class despite their evident lack of sharpness. Tapped to run the table in the East, they showed that their status as preemptive favorites stems from their capacity to excel on defense regardless of circumstance. True, they scored 105, anyway. More telling, however, was their masterful shutdown of the Sixers, who could do no better than post 87 on 39.1% shooting.