Gordon Hayward had 22 points in the Celtics’ 123-119 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Saturday. But it was one play toward the end of the game that probably will stick with him for a while.
The forward missed a crucial alley-oop layup with 35 seconds left in the game that would have brought Boston within three points. Hayward was visibly upset after missing the shot, but Marcus Smart walked over to him and offered some words of encouragement and a pat on the back.
After the game, Hayward revealed the message Smart had for him.
“‘Move on. It’ s all good,'” Hayward said on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “‘Stay with us. Stay with us.’ In the moment it’s hard to let that one go. We needed that bucket for sure.”
And here’s Smart’s account:
Marcus Smart on Gordon Hayward's missed layup:
"I told him 'Keep your head up.' You're ok. Trust me, you missing that is not why we're down and if we lose this game it's not why we lost the game.'"
— Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) January 19, 2020
Those two points certainly would have made things interesting for Boston. But Smart, as well as head coach Brad Stevens, don’t seem overly concerned with Hayward’s performance. After all, he went 11-of-15 on Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons.
