BOSTON — Celtics fans were left with a lot of questions after Boston’s 113-101 Game 4 loss against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Kyrie Irving is on one of his coldest shooting stretches of his playoff career, and the Celtics have had no answers for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Even when Antetokounmpo is on the bench, the Celtics were outplayed on Monday night at TD Garden.
But among the first questions Celtics fans should be asking is: “Where has Gordon Hayward been?”
The forward is the leader of Boston’s bench, and whenever he enters the game, he gets a roaring welcome from the TD Garden crowd, second only to Marcus Smart on Monday. But to put it lightly, Hayward has been invisible in each of the Celtics’ last three losses.
Hayward is averaging 7.5 points per game against the Bucks, while averaging 30.5 minutes. For a max contract player, that simply is unacceptable. Those numbers are inflated a bit given Hayward’s 13-point performance in Game 1, Boston’s lone win of the series.
Since Game 1, Hayward is 4-for-18 from the floor, and on Monday he scored a measly two points on a 1-for-5 effort.
Given those numbers, it should come as little surprise that Boston’s bench was outscored 32-7 in Monday’s loss.
While Milwaukee has built its series lead largely on the back of Giannis Antetokounmpo, the efforts of George Hill and Pat Connaughton off the bench in Games 3 and 4 should not be overlooked. While Antetokounmpo has dominated, the ability of the Bucks’ bench to sustain, or even grow, leads when he is on the bench ultimately has tipped the scales in this series.
Boston’s bench was outscored 74-23 in the two games at TD Garden. Hayward is supposed to be the biggest contributor off the bench. So if you’re looking for somewhere to throw blame for the C’s 3-1 deficit, Hayward should not be left out.
