Yesterday was the opening night of the 2017-18 NBA season, featuring two marquee match-ups as the Boston Celtics traveled to face the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Houston Rockets took on the Golden State Warriors. The new look Celtics squad, having added stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, was seen by many as a team that could actually challenge Cleveland for the Eastern Conference title. However, this all unraveled last night only minutes into the new year.

Hayward suffers horrific injury

With 6:45 left in the opening quarter of the game, Gordon Hayward went up for an alley-oop pass and collided with LeBron James.

He then landed extremely awkwardly, with his left leg bending in a horrific manner as he lay collapsed under the basket. Hayward was then tended to by doctors, having his entire left leg put into an air cast, before being stretched off of the court with players from both teams checking on him.

The team announced that Hayward had been diagnosed with a fractured left ankle, while after the game head coach Brad Stevens said he had dislocated his ankle and fractured his tibia.

He flew back with the team to Boston following the game and was immediately taken to New England Baptist Hospital as soon as their plane landed.

ESPN's Michael Wilbon reported that Hayward will have surgery today. However, Hayward's agent told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski that his client will evaluate a course of action to undertake following his MRI and CT scans this morning.

Where do the Celtics go from here?

This offseason the Celtics acquired Hayward in free agency as he was coming off of his first All-Star appearance by signing him to a four-year, $128 million contract.

They then made a big trade to acquire Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving, as they overhauled their team this summer.

With the additions of these two All-Stars joining Al Horford, many believed that Boston had a legitimate chance to win the Eastern Conference. The Celtics will still be a playoff team in the East, but now those dreams seem shattered, as these chance of beating Cleveland dim.

The Celtics do have rookie Jayson Tatum, the third pick of the draft, who will now see more playing time with Hayward gone and may step up as a rookie. However, for the team to truly fill the void, they will need the third pick in the 2016 draft Jaylen Brown to take a massive step forward this season. He got off to a good start last night, dropping a career-high 25 points.
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