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Gordon Hayward 'Feeling Like An Athlete Again'

BOSTON (CBS) -- Gordon Hayward gave a quick update on his recovery on Friday, and the Celtics forward is progressing nicely from that devastating ankle injury he suffered back on opening night.

While the Celtics are preparing for the Eastern Conference finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Hayward has been hard at work with a running specialist in Indianapolis. It's been a long road back for Hayward, but he's starting to feel like himself again.

"It's all been going really well. I'm happy to report I'm feeling like an athlete again," Hayward wrote on his website. "I've been in Indianapolis for the last couple weeks making some really good progress. I leave the hotel every morning at about 9:30 am and don't get back til about 6 pm. We do a lot of running mechanics, physical therapy, a lift of some sort, and then court work for another few hours. It's a full day, every day. I'm definitely moving along as planned, and progressing really well."

Before you get too excited with Hayward feeling like an athlete again, it doesn't mean he's about to make a valiant return as the Celtics fight for a spot in the NBA Finals. The Celtics have said throughout the season that Hayward won't return until next season, and feeling like an athlete is very different than being ready for an NBA game. That being said, Hayward continues to progress toward that eventual return, and it's been nothing but positive news throughout the process.

After quickly touching on his own situation, Hayward gushed about the job his teammates are doing this postseason. He's proud that the team continues to prove its doubters wrong, and is confident they can keep it going against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"Taking down Cleveland is definitely going to be a challenge for us. I believe we're capable of it," he wrote.

"It's going to take a complete team effort. We're going to have to get scoring from multiple different guys. We're going to have to execute defensively," he continued. "But that's exactly what we've done all postseason long. It's what this team is about. We're relying on every guy, not just one. That's one of our biggest strengths. We can attack matchups based on how they're guarding us, and we have the personnel to do that.

"We've shown throughout the year that we can beat anybody in the league on any given night. We're going to have to play extremely well to beat them four times," he said. "But we can do it. And I believe that we will."

The Celtics and Cavaliers tip off their Eastern Conference finals clash on Sunday afternoon in Boston. Maybe Hawyard will be able to enjoy a few of those games from the Boston bench.

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