Hayward breaks ankle; Cavs top Celts
Irving scores 22 points in return to Cleveland
CLEVELAND — Boston’s Gordon Hayward broke his left ankle just five minutes into the season, a grisly injury that overshadowed Kyrie Irving’s return to Cleveland and the Cavaliers’ 102-99 win over the shocked Celtics on Tuesday night.
Lebron James scored 29 points — 13 in the fourth quarter—inhismost extensive action in three weeks because of a sprained left ankle. He also fed Kevin Love for a critical 3-pointer with 46.3 secondlefttoputthecavsup102-98.
Irving, who asked to be traded this summer after six seasons in Cleveland, had a chance to tie it with a 3-pointer at the horn but missed. Irving then shared a warm embrace with James, his teammate for three seasons.
Irving finished with 22 points for the Celtics,whoovercamean18-pointdeficit in the third and led with 2:04 left. Boston’s guard was also called for a technical.
Hayward, who signed a four-year, $128 million free agent contract with the Celtics this summer, was bumped by James while trying to catch an alley-oop pass with 6:45 left in the first quarter. The forward’s leg got twisted underneath him as he came back to the floor and snapped his ankle grotesquely.
The 27-year-old sat up, looked at his foot and yelled in horror while some players covered their mouths and others turned their heads.
Hayward’s stunning injury changed the tenor of the highly anticipated season opener between two of the league’s best teams, and will likely alter the direction of Boston’s season. Hayward will require surgery and need months to recover.
The Celtics were understandably shakenathalftime,andwenttothelocker room down 16.
However, they battled back and were still leading 98-97 when James, who only played in one exhibition after spraining his ankle on Sept. 27, spun in the lane and made a layup to put Cleveland up by one. On Boston’s next possession, James cut off Marcus Smart and deflected the ball off the guard’s leg and out of bounds.
James then made a crosscourt pass to a wide-open Love, who drained his 3 to give the Cavs a four-point cushion.
Irving’s free throw made it 102-99, and the Celtics had two late chances but both Jaylen Brown and Irving missed late 3s.
Love had 15 and Derrick Rose 14 in his debut for the Cavs, who are trying to blend new faces and big egos quickly.
■ At Oakland, Calif., P.J. Tucker made two free throws to give Houston the lead with 44 seconds remaining, Kevin Durant failed to get a shot off at the buzzer, and the Rockets opened their season by defeating the defending NBA champions.
Rockets 122, Warriors 121 —