The 25-year-old has established himself as the face of the franchise since Gordon Hayward's departure to the Boston Celtics in the summer but has been unable to lead them consistently as his campaign continues to be marred by injur

"You know he hasn’t expressed that," he explained . "Just knowing professional athletes, I know that down inside he wants to be back faster than anybody has ever been back from this kind of injury … I know what’s going on in his mind, but I don’t think he’ll say anything about how fast he wants to get ba

Therefore, Hayward’s presence (if at full health) in the playoffs might be needed to overcome the plethora of talent on Cleveland’s roster. Although Hayward’s future is certainly important, hanging banner No. 18 in the rafters is what will probably take precedence in Bos

At 22-4, the Celtics own the best record in the NBA heading into Friday’s slate. Therefore, they have exceeded expectations, going 22-2 over their last 24 games after losing the first two games adjusting to Hayward’s v

"I think the biggest thing is they really care about Gordon," Stevens said . "He's made a big impact on them. He's an easy guy to play with. He's a guy you want to play with on both ends of the floor. So certainly you miss that -- and that camaraderie. But one of the tasks that we have now is to pick up steam for him, and guys that get opportunities that [they] may not have [had before Hayward's injury] or guys that get opportunities from a more minutes standpoint need to be ready to take advantage of tho

Last season, San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard was one of the most valuable players in the entire NBA, posting 25.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game as perhaps the league's best two-way fo

Popovich, however, disputed Parker's claims telling reporters that his assessment should be taken under caution, which just seems to add to the uncertainty around the whole situation and again shows that the organization is not willing to share much informat

In case you missed it, Gordon Hayward suffered one of the most grotesque in-game injuries in NBA history on Tuesday night.Landing awkwardly on his way down from an ally-oop attempt, Hayward dislocated his ankle and fractured his tibia which immediately shocked everyone watching.As he lay in pain on the floor at the sight of his visible deformity, his teammates, opposing players, the crowd and the viewing audience looked on in anguish as one of Boston’s star players was severely injured. Hayward’s agent Mark Bartelstein told ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan that the surgery would involve "a bunch of different things," including inserting a plate and screws in order to stabilize his ankle and tibia.In the team’s home opener against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, the longest-tenured Celtic Marcus Smart was slated to deliver a message to the fans over the loudspeakers. But instead, he simply directed fans to the video screens above on the jumbotron. Here’s what pla

But, he has missed the first 11 games of the season while slowly recovering from an ankle injury. Of course the Spurs have stayed afloat under head coach Gregg Popovic, going 7-4, but they clearly are missing Leonard's talents on both ends of the fl

The French point guard made his long-awaited return from a torn quad muscle in the team's home win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night and revealed that Leonard is not too far behind having worked out with him recen

"We won't know really what we look like until I get back out there," Paul said . "(But) man, I'm learning so much - so much. …I think the biggest thing that we talk about as a team is communication, so we're trying to make sure we continue to get better and better at that - especially on the defensive e

"He rebounds, blocks shots, is solid defensively, is athletic, deflects passes and stuff like that," Ginobili said of Green . "He’s been huge for the last three years, for sure, and is getting better. Now, he is our main guy defensively and he is going to be for a while. Even when Kawhi (is healthy), sometimes he takes the toughest opponent, so he’s been very reliab

Rudy Gobert's luck has been out so far this season as he's suffered freak injuries to both knees.After missing 11 games with a right knee injury following a collision with Miami Heat shooting guard Dion Waiters, the Frenchman returned to the Utah Jazz lineup earlier than expected recently but he now faces another spell on the sidelines.In their last outing against the Boston Celtics, frontcourt partner Derrick Favors landed awkwardly on Gobert's left knee and it immediately sent the big man to the ground in agony. According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports Injury Recovery|Https://Sportsinjuryfocus.Com/, the center now faces a month out after being diagnosed with a sprained posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and a bone bruise in his left ti

Having dropped their season opener against the Cavs, the Celtics also lost their home opener to the Bucks on Wednesday to fall to an early 0-2 record. They will have to figure out how to compensate for the loss of their All-Star forw