Wednesday 19 August 2020 05:01, UK
Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward has been ruled out for four weeks after suffering an ankle sprain in Monday's playoff opener against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Hayward went down with a right ankle sprain with little more than three minutes left in the fourth quarter of Boston's 109-101 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.
The Celtics confirmed Hayward's diagnosis in a statement released on Tuesday.
"Celtics forward Gordon Hayward suffered a Grade III sprain of his right ankle during the fourth quarter of last night's game against Philadelphia," the Boston statement said.
"He is expected to miss approximately four weeks."
Hayward was boxing out 76ers center Joel Embiid on the play he was injured. After Hayward jumped for the rebound, Hayward appeared to land on the foot of team-mate Daniel Theis and his right ankle rolled.
Boston had to commit a foul and then call time out with 3:08 remaining after the play to allow Hayward, who never got off the ground, to limp along the sideline and back to the Celtics' locker room.
The sprain is to the opposite leg that Hayward suffered a gruesome injury to on his Celtics debut in 2017.
Hayward finished with 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting with four rebounds, three assists and four steals in 34 minutes.
This season Hayward is averaging 17.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists for Boston, who are the No 3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Boston lead the first-round series 1-0, with Game 2 set for Wednesday. Veteran guard Marcus Smart is expected to fill Hayward's spot in the starting line-up.
