Boston's Gordon Hayward broke his left ankle just five minutes into the season, a grisly injury that overshadowed Kyrie Irving's return to Cleveland and the Cavaliers' 102-99 win over the shocked Celtics on Tuesday night. LeBron James scored 29 points — 13 in the fourth quarter — in his most extensive action in three weeks because of a sprained left ankle. Hayward's stunning injury changed the tenor of the highly anticipated season opener between two of the league's best teams, and will likely alter the direction of Boston's season. But Hayward's injury took some of the bite out of Cleveland's crowd, which gave the forward a roaring ovation as he was taken off the floor on a stretcher. When Hayward went down, Boston's players huddled in prayer near their bench as a distressed James took a seat on the scorer's table in disbelief.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 18, 2017 03:05 UTC