Celtics eyeing playoff run after rash of injuries
No. 2 seed will be without its stars
BOSTON — Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward exchanged the kind of toothy giggles normally only found between kids on a playground when they were introduced as the new faces of the Celtics.
“It’s about to be crazy, G,” Irving said in the ear of Hayward to a soundtrack of clicking camera lenses as they sat on a dais back in September two days after Boston’s blockbuster trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Seven months later, Irving has proven to be prophetic — albeit not how he had in mind.
It has been crazy unlucky for the Celtics. Stunning too. Al Horford said even shocking.
And though things haven’t gone as scripted in Boston, the Celtics will open the playoffs at the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference believing they can win it all without their injured offseason acquisitions.
“Finals. I’m very confident,” guard Terry Rozier when asked how far Boston can go. “Everybody has to be on the same page. And we just gotta play. And play hard.”
That’s been Boston’s calling card throughout the season. They have no choice but to play hard because from Hayward’s gruesome, season-ending left ankle injury on opening night, to the recent pair of left knee surgeries that has sidelined Irving, luck has been in short supply beyond the Celtics’ Leprechaun mascot named Lucky.
Horford acknowledged being shocked when he heard that Irving was done for the season. But he said the time has passed for sulking about misfortunes.
“We can’t dwell on the past,” Horford said. Obviously it makes it more difficult. Kyrie, he’s the leader of this team. We won with him and now we have to find ways to do it without him.”
In addition to Irving and Hayward, Boston will also be without productive rookie Daniel Theis (left knee surgery) for the season and Marcus Smart (right thumb surgery) until at minimum the second round. That’s not to mention a plethora of nagging injuries that have dogged the rest of the roster.
Yet, in an Eastern Conference that features a less-than-dominating LeBron James-led Cavaliers team, Boston veterans Horford and Marcus Morris and its corps of talented young players led by Jaylen Brown, Rozier and rookie Jayson Tatum give it as legitimate a chance as anyone to make it to the NBA Finals.
The Celtics will finish with their second straight 50-win season and their highest number of victories under coach Brad Stevens.
The Celtics have already done an admirable job of figuring things out without Hayward and Irving.
They’ve played all but five minutes this season without Hayward. In 20 games without Irving they are 13-7.
“It’s a great opportunity for the other guys and it’s our job to coach them,” Stevens said. “I believe in the guys in our locker room. They believe in themselves.”
WADE: Heat guard Dwyane Wade on Monday was named recipient of the NBA Cares Community Assist Award for March in recognition of his support for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students and the Parkland community in the wake of the tragic Feb. 14 campus shooting.
The monthly award, according to the NBA, recognizes a player who “best reflects the passion that the league and its players share for giving back to their communities.”
Wade was honored for, “providing support and funding to benefit MSDHS students and the greater Parkland community.”
Wade’s efforts included being present at the school when classes resumed a week after the shooting that left 17 dead; sponsoring the “Parkland 17” art exhibit at the Wynwood Art Walk, which was created to honor the 17 lives lost; and, along with his wife, actress Gabrielle Union, donating $200,000 to the “March for Our Lives” rallies on March 24.
On a more personal, level Wade reached out to families who lost loved ones in the tragedy, including the Oliver family, who he invited to the team’s March 3 home game. Presenting them with custom shoes and a game-worn jersey, Wade also dedicated the remainder of the Heat season to the family’s late son Joaquin. The former All-Star guard also met with two other Parkland families and several Parkland Basketball Recreation League teams who also lost students in the tragedy.
VAN GUNDY: Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores says he’s undecided about Stan Van Gundy’s future with the franchise.
Gores met with reporters during halftime of Monday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors.
Van Gundy will finish his fourth season as coach and president of basketball operations on Wednesday night at Chicago. He’s failed to lead Detroit to the playoffs for the third time.