At this time last year, the Boston Celtics were just beginning their journey through the 2019-20 NBA campaign. Little did they know at the time that it would wind up being the most unprecedented 365-day trek in NBA history.
It took an entire year to complete the season, as a four-month, midseason hiatus in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic pushed playoff basketball all the way into mid-October of 2020. As a result, the beginning of the 2020-21 Season has been pushed back to an undetermined date.
In light of that delay, we want to make sure Celtics basketball remains in your lives this fall, when NBA basketball is usually in full swing. So we’ll be taking you on a 365-day rewind back to last season as we highlight some of the most memorable performances from the campaign - all on the one-year anniversary of each occurrence. We’ll refresh some fun memories while also keeping you in the basketball mindset for when next season begins.
One year ago today, on Nov. 5, 2019, Gordon Hayward reached a level of perfection that had not been achieved by an NBA player in more than 50 years.
While facing off against the Cavaliers in Cleveland, on the very same floor where he broke his leg two years prior, the veteran Celtics wing put forth the game of his life as he shot 17-of-21 from the field, including a perfect 16-of-16 from inside the 3-point arc, en route to a career-high-tying 39 points and a 119-113 Celtics win.
Prior to this night, only one other NBA player on record had made at least 16 2-point field goals without a miss. That player was Wilt Chamberlain, who accomplished the feat twice within a month’s span during the 1966-67 Season.
From the opening tip, Hayward was in an impenetrable zone. He opened up the first quarter with 16 points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting clip, which can be viewed in its entirety below.
By halftime, he was up to 22 points on 9-of-9 shooting from the field, along with a perfect 4-for-4 effort from the free-throw line. He made six more shots inside the arc during the second half, the last of which was a game-sealing put-back layup that gave the Celtics a 118-113 lead with 22 seconds remaining.
Hayward’s only three misses on the night came from 3-point range, where he shot 1-for-4. But that didn’t matter when everything inside the arc was falling for him, especially from the mid-range where he made all nine of his shot attempts from eight to 13 feet on an array of jumpers and floaters.
“Just kinda taking advantage of my size in the paint,” Hayward said of those shots. “I think it’s something I can get to if I stay under control and poised in there. But certainly, around the rim there, kinda with different floaters and leaners, slow-steps, things like that, is something I’m pretty comfortable doing.”
Cleveland eventually began trapping Hayward, but that didn’t faze the versatile playmaker. Whenever the Cavs went to double him up, he would find the open man, which led him to a game-high in the assist column, as well, as he finished with eight helpers. On top of all of that, he also corralled seven rebounds and turned the ball over just twice during 34 minutes of action.
While the numbers were pretty, there was a whole lot more to this outing than just the record-breaking element; the way in which Hayward attacked the basket with such perfection served as further proof of how far he had come over the previous couple of seasons in regard to returning to an All-Star level of play.
And it wasn’t just this game that solidified such progress. During the first seven contests of the season, Hayward led the team in scoring twice, while also pacing the squad in assists and rebounds three times apiece. Through that point, he was averaging 20.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, while shooting 56.4 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from three and 84.2 percent from the foul line.
Unfortunately, during Game 8 of the campaign, Hayward suffered a massive setback when he fractured the fourth metacarpal in his left hand during the first half of a Nov. 9 win in San Antonio. The injury sidelined him for exactly a month and it took him a couple of weeks to get back into a groove again.
Hayward continued to play at an All-Star level for the majority of the season, averaging 17.5 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 4.1 APG, while shooting 50.0 percent from the field, 38.3 percent from deep and 85.5 percent from the free-throw line during 52 regular-season appearances.
Among those appearances included the most impressive outing of his career, which occurred 365 days ago in Cleveland. Hayward’s outing was not only the most efficient high-volume scoring effort in franchise history, but also the most impressive display of individual shooting perfection since the great Wilt Chamberlain more than half of a century ago.
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