Boston Celtics 99-102 Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 talking points

Nothing like beginning the opening night of the NBA with four of the best teams in the league. With the Champions out West in the Bay Area, Game 1 on tip-off night was between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics.

Both these teams have been linked a lot over the last six months. They played each other in the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals, then the teams exchanged All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas in the summer via a trade and now both these championship contenders are tipping their season off by facing each other.

When the final buzzer rang at the end of 48 minutes, the reigning Eastern Conference Champions came out top despite a huge rally by the short-handed Celtics.

How is a championship contender short-handed in the first game you ask? The big game's five biggest takeaway will explain everything. Here they are:

#5 Gordon Hayward's horrific lower leg injury

Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers — Gordon Hayward

Gordon Hayward was looking to start a new chapter in his career with the Celtics but tragedy struck just six minutes into his first game for the team. Landing awkwardly while attempting to finish an alley-oop, Hayward suffered a gruesome lower leg injury that made the players and everybody in the arena look away.

Here's an official current update on his health provided by the Celtics:

#NEBHInjuryReport: After a medical evaluation by Celtics/Cavs medical personnel Gordon Hayward has been diagnosed w/ a fractured left ankle.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 18, 2017

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Missing an All-Star like Gordon Hayward is huge and Boston will now have to rely on a young bench to make up for the small forward's contribution. Hayward's most likely to be out for the season, which is a huge blow to the team's championship chances, so now it's up to head coach Brad Stevens and veteran Kyrie Irving to bring the team together and battle through the adversity.

Any lower leg injury, especially a fracture or a dislocation, is incredibly difficult to bounce back from. Just ask Shaun Livingston and Paul George. Although a timetable is not known, it is possible to get back from this injury and we only pray for Hayward's speedy recovery.

#4 With bigger opportunities on the horizon, Boston's young wings show promise

Hayward was ruled out early in the game and their backup forward Marcus Morris was declared inactive before the game, so it was down to the Celtics' young wings to step up if the team wanted to put up any competition.

And they did just that.

Jaylen Brown scored a team-high 25 points on 11-of-23 shooting while also recording six rebounds and 2 steals in his 40 minutes of action. Rookie Jayson Tatum started slow but eventually finished with an impressive stat line of 14 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists on 5-of-12 shooting.

These young wings along with Morris are going to play huge minutes whenever the team goes small. Therefore, it was imperative that they get some confidence going and their performance against the Cavaliers should give them that and much more.

#3 Kyrie Irving leads Celtics' valiant fightback

It was no surprise that the Celtics' struggled to cope with the Cavaliers after Hayward was taken off the court on a stretcher. They scored just 19 in both the first and second quarter, to trail by 16 at halftime (38-54). Given the state of affairs and the talent deficit, Boston could have easily folded but they didn't.

They outscored Cleveland 33-18 in the third quarter and entered the final period only trailing by one. That wasn't just a flash in the pan, they kept the game competitive in the final period as well, going toe-to-toe with the Cavaliers.

The fight shown despite being undermanned is a testament to the franchise culture that the new coaching regiment as set up. In the fightback, something that didn't get as much attention was Irving's positive play. He led from the front, distributed the ball, didn't overshoot or play iso ball.

#2 Cavaliers still heavily dependent on LeBron James

Prior to the season tip-off, there was so much talk about how deep the Cavaliers roster is and that it is deepest since LeBron James came back to the franchise in 2014. Some opinions even stated this would allow James to run himself into the ground and play as many minutes as he did in last season.

However, things did change much. Most of the starters played about 30 minutes and a couple of reserves (J.R Smith and Tristan Thompson) played just over 20 but the team still needed 41 minutes from James to seal the win down the stretch.

It's a small sample size, I mean it's just one game but will this be how the season rolls? There are a lot of weak teams in the East but what if the rest of the Cavaliers aren't able to do enough? Will they need James to save them even against the lower tier teams of the league?

Cavaliers walked away with the win on opening night but they have plenty of questions to answer.

#1 What bad ankle?

James was cleared to play the opener only a few hours before tip-off, in light of a left ankle sprain that he was nursing. And although he wasn't at his explosive best, he did more than enough to seal the close win.

The four-time league MVP stuffed the stat sheet with 29 points, 16 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 blocks in 41 minutes of action. Yes, let that sink in. He was still rehabbing a bad ankle but finishes just one assist shy of a triple-double while sitting just seven minutes of the game.

This is why he is considered among the greatest of all time. Not only is he great but he's been able to deliver the same level of greatness consistently for fourteen seasons and he began his 15th season with not looking like a 33-year old who has been to seven straight NBA Finals.