Gordon Hayward already shooting as rehab continues

It’s been two weeks since Gordon Hayward broke his left hand in a freak play after he got his fingers stuck in LaMarcus Aldridge’s jersey. He had surgery two days later and subsequently, the Celtics released a six-week timeline for his recovery.

Before last night’s west coast finale in Denver, head coach Brad Stevens provided an update on Hayward’s rehab, including starting to shoot the ball again:

“One of these days this week,” Stevens revealed. “I don’t know if it’s one-handed, normal… I don’t know what it is. All I know is that I got an email from the guys that are back there that said that he shot.”

There’s more good news. Because of the nature of Hayward’s injury, his workouts have not restricted his cardio work.

“He is able to run up and down the court and do conditioning and do the bike and everything else,” said Stevens of Hayward’s conditioning, “so I don’t think he’s gonna lose a lot on that end. That sometimes is the issue with these injuries, especially leg injuries. It takes you a while to get up to speed conditioning-wise. But I don’t think that’ll be the case. I think he’ll be able to maintain that pretty well, which is good.”

Before his injury, Hayward was arguably Boston’s best player. In eight games, Hayward was averaging nearly 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists at an impressive 55.5% FG%. He was playing with a confidence and swagger that had alluded him in his first comeback season with the Celtics.