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Tim BontempsESPN
Charlotte Hornets striker Gordon Hayward will miss at least the next four weeks with a sprained right foot, the team announced on Saturday.
Hayward, who signed a $ 120 million four-year contract to join Charlotte as a free agent in November, was due to return to Boston for the first time since leaving the Celtics in the off-season, before suffering an injury during Friday’s 114th. market. 97 victory in Indiana.
It will be reevaluated in about four weeks, the team said.
Embracing a greater role in Charlotte than in Boston, Hayward stood out for the Hornets this season, averaging 19.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, while hitting 41.5% in the 3-point range .
The Hornets – no longer debuting star LaMelo Ball, who has a fractured wrist indefinitely – have been one of the league’s biggest surprises this season. On her way to Sunday’s game in Boston, Charlotte is in two games over 0.500 and fourth in the Eastern Conference.
The Hornets enter the action on Saturday night designed by ESPN’s Basketball Power Index to finish sixth in the East, which would allow them to avoid the play-in tournament and reach the playoffs for the first time since losing seven games to the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2016 playoffs.
Since returning to the league as an expansion team in the 2004-05 season, Charlotte has made it to the playoffs only three times and has yet to advance in the first round.
The Hornets have 1-3 in the four games Hayward lost this season (24-20 with him), allowing 9.5 points more per game than when Hayward plays, according to data from ESPN Stats & Information.