Celtics F Hayward 'good to go' for matchup vs. Raptors

Boston coach Brad Stevens said forward Gordon Hayward is "good to go" for the Celtics' Christmas Day showdown against the Toronto Raptors after missing the last three games with a foot injury, ESPN reported Wednesday. Hayward has been sidelined with left foot soreness, possibly related to the broken ankle he suffered two years ago. However, Stevens announced on Dec. 20 that an MRI confirmed there was no structural damage. Prior to that, the 29-year-old was sidelined for a month with a fractured left hand that he suffered on Nov. 9.

"I think it has everything to do with the prior injury," Hayward told the Boston Globe on Tuesday after participating in practice. "I didn't get hurt on my right foot. "When you have a traumatic event like that to your foot and your ankle, things are going to change inside of there that you don't know necessarily because they might not bug you. But I think they start to poke their head a little bit if it gets tweaked in some way or another. And so, I think it does have to do with it. I don't think it's a coincidence that it's on my left foot."

Hayward said he became aware of the pain after scoring a career-high 39 points in a 119-113 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 5. He then broke his left hand and sat out 13 games before returning to play earlier this month. "It was getting worse outside of playing but we were able to calm it down enough so I could play. Then something happened where I couldn't play.

"When I broke my hand it (his left foot) was slowly not getting better. I would've thought I had all that time off -- we had a five-day break -- (but) it got to the point where I couldn't play." Hayward told the Boston Globe he felt confident that the latest of three cortisone treatments have helped.

"First two did not help with the nerve pain, hopefully, third time's the charm," he said. "I think we've been trying to find out the cause of the issue -- there is a lot of nerve pain. It's something I've been dealing with for a while and got to the point where I couldn't play over the break, which was the weirdest thing because we weren't doing anything. "It certainly feels a lot better now. The injection hit the right spot and, hopefully, see how it feels tomorrow."

Hayward signed with the Celtics in July 2017 after starting his career with the Utah Jazz in 2010. He broke his left ankle five minutes into the 2017-18 season opener, and the horrific injury cost him the entire campaign. Hayward is averaging 17.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in 11 games this season.