Surgery for Hayward

The agent for Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward said the surgery Wednesday night “went really well.” Mark Bartelstein said Thursday that doctors “got everything sort of fixed and put back in the right place. So that’s great. There’s no doubt we’ll get him back to be better than he was before. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.” Celtics Coach Brad Stevens, who was Hayward’s college coach at Butler, said the situation is difficult for him personally, but Hayward will have lots of support. After signing a four-year, $128-million free agent contract to come to Boston from the Utah Jazz, his only professional team, Hayward’s Celtics career was less than six minutes old when an awkward landing in Cleveland on Tuesday night left him with a broken left tibia and dislocated ankle. Bartelstein didn’t have details on a timeframe for Hayward’s recovery, but said it’s very unlikely that Hayward will play this season. Players on both teams reacted in horror to Hayward’s gruesomely bent leg. Stevens said he couldn’t watch the replay. The Celtics, who trailed the Cavaliers by 16 points at halftime, lost 102-99 when Kyrie Irving missed the potential tying 3-pointer at the buzzer. Unable to attend the home opener against Milwaukee a night later, Hayward recorded a video message from his hospital bed before heading into surgery, telling Boston fans: “It’s hurting me that I can’t be there.” Boston fell to 0-2 when Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 16 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, adding 13 rebounds to help the Milwaukee Bucks to a 108100 victory. Irving scored 17 points for Boston on 7-for-25 shooting, and Jaylen Brown scored 18. Hayward’s acquisition was part of a near-complete roster overhaul for the team that finished first in the East last season before losing to the Cavaliers in the conference finals. The team also traded guard Isaiah Thomas to Cleveland for Irving and shipped out regular starters Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder. In all, just four players on the roster finished last season with the team.