Gordon Hayward’s injury and 7 more things from opening night

If you didn’t know Tuesday night was the official start to the NBA regular season, you probably don’t own any accounts on social media. Between the Cavaliers going head-to-head with the Celtics and Houston’s comeback victory over Golden State, opening night embodied every reason why fans couldn’t wait for basketball season to come back: for better or worse.

Here are eight things you missed if you weren’t watching on Tuesday night:

Less than six minutes into the first official game of his Boston Celtics career, Hayward collided with LeBron James after going after a lob pass and landed so awkwardly that he dislocated his ankle and fractured the tibia in his left foot. It was so ugly we won’t show you the video, but he’s likely out for a very long time.

Dwyane Wade’s reaction sums it all up.

Yup. After adding even more depth to their super team over the summer, Golden State dropped the season-opener by one point after Kevin Durant’s game-winner was still in his hands when the final buzzer rang. That defeat probably has something to do with Draymond Green, who strained his left knee in the third quarter and didn’t return for the fourth.

First, they fist bumped before the opening tip

Then, after Irvings’ potential game-tying shot, they dapped each other up like old times:

Maybe it’s all love after all?

In his first game as a Warrior, Nick Young scored 23 points off the bench. His six threes made were the most ever for a Warriors’ player on opening night, according to NBA stats. Watch and enjoy.

Including this near-poster of James.

Brown stepped up in Hayward’s absence, but Boston will need much, much more if they hope to fill the void left by an all-star’s injury.

The King started the season on a high note, putting up 29 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists to lead Cleveland to its first win of the season. Then, after playing 41 minutes on an injured ankle, he said he was out of shape and hit the gym right after his post-game media session.

The stuff GOATs are made of, I guess.

With 4:47 left in the fourth quarter, Mike D’Antoni opted to go with Eric Gordon over CP3. The substitution paid dividends for the Rockets, who finished on a 13-7 run with a one-point win over the Warriors.

But how is this Paul-Harden pairing going to work if both need the ball?

Green came up limping in the third quarter against the Rockets and went into the locker room never to return, but we have conflicting reports on the severity of his injury.

Guess we’ll find out Green’s status another day.

Cavaliers 102, Celtics 99

Rockets 122, Warriors 121