"Every time a team has to adjust to playing without its main player, others have to step up and gain confidence, and they end up being better players," Ginobili told reporters after shootaround Tuesday morning, per Tom Osborn of mySA.com . "I think it is a great thing for guys like Bryn (Forbes), Brandon (Paul), even Kyle (Anderson), because they are having to be more responsible offensively, have more possessions, make more decisio

Heading into this season, Leonard seemingly had his best shot at securing his first-ever MVP award since Paul George and Carmelo Anthony joined reigning MVP Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City and Chris Paul joined MVP runner-up James Harden in Hous

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

"He wears the boot until a certain time every evening and then he can take it off," Stevens told reporters . "When he moves around, he can move around with a brace that’s like a boot. … He is progressing and doing what he can do — what he’s been cleared to do. It’s been going well. He still wears a boot when he comes over to the gym. He’s wearing the boot for most of the d

"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 Sports Injury Advice|Https://Sportsinjuryfocus.Com/] or guys that get opportunities from a more minutes standpoint need to be ready to take advantage of tho

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

"I want everyone to be informed by me that I will not be able to play for the Greek national team in the upcoming Eurobasket. All this time I was pressuring myself to practice. I was trying to fool myself and not feel the pain, hoping that I will be ready for the official games. My will affected my judgement, but in the tests I took here in China with the Bucks personnel, it was time for the truth," he explained via Eurohoops.n

"I was [at the hospital] for a minute last night and also again today for an hour or so. He's down," Stevens said, via ESPN . "Obviously, there's a physical pain to it, but I think it's also doubled by the emotional pain of, you know, he put a lot of effort into trying to start this, his career, out well in Bost

Gobert only had 13 points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes during the Jazz's Game 1 loss to Golden State. Utah will need a lot more than that from their star center if this series is going to be competitive at

"I failed in the tests I was put to and the reason was the pain I felt from the first seconds. I can accept the truth and deal with it in a mature manner. I have to work and improve as much as I can the condition of my knee. Last summer I had the option to "freeze" the deal for my contract extension. This year I have no choice," he explained . "I am injured, I feel pain and I must he

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

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

"He’s progressing along," Ainge said . "He can take the boot off for short periods of time. But he’s doing really well. His therapy is going great. He’s right on schedule. He’s doing sometimes two workouts a day and trying to get stronger. The next phases are getting out of the boot complete