Brad Stevens, Gordon Hayward focus on the present as they return to Indiana

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BOSTON — When the Boston Celtics trek to Indianapolis for the start of a five-game road trip on Saturday night against the Indiana Pacers, it will be the first time that two of the region’s most beloved sons — Brad Stevens and Gordon Hayward — share the same sideline there since Hayward’s desperation heave in the closing seconds of the 2010 NCAA title game.

Who could have imagined that the path of player and coach would ever intersect again years later with the Boston Celtics? There was an earthquake of jubilation, with an epicenter on the campus of Butler University, when Hayward announced that he was signing with Boston in July 2017. But his first trip back with the Celtics was delayed by his season-ending ankle injury.

The significance of Saturday’s visit isn’t lost on player or coach, it’s just that, well, this is a business trip, and not a trip down memory lane.

So while friends, families, and plenty of Butler fans are expected to bring a splash of green to Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday night when the Celtics visit the Pacers, neither Stevens nor Hayward plans to get overly nostalgic.

"I think we’ve both been back enough now,” said Stevens. "It’s always special to go back. But what I’ve done, I’ve gotten a lot better at not doing anything when I go back. You have to minimize. You have to just go to work, and then you can go visit in the summer.”

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The Celtics arrived in Indy on Friday with no shortage of local connections. Even beyond Stevens and Hayward, Boston’s Butler ties include assistant coaches Micah Shrewsberry (an assistant from 2008-2011) and Alex Barlow (Butler guard from 2011-2015), and stats maven Drew Cannon.

Knowing the daunting challenges ahead with a season-long five-game road trip, the Butler crew was largely nonplussed by what’s become a twice-a-year visit to Indy.

"We’ve done it, like a lot now,” said Shrewsberry. "I think for Gordon it will be a little more special, with missing last year, now being able to go back. The cheers will be a little louder for him there than at other arenas. 

"I think, for us, other people get more excited for it than we do. But it’s still fun to go back.”

For Hayward, it’s a nice way to ease into a road trip that will get a bit more hostile when he makes his first trip back to Utah next Friday night. Asked about the reception he expects from Jazz fans next week, Hayward said, "It's been a year, so hopefully not as vicious a booing, but I'm sure I'll get booed. It is what it is.”

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In Indiana, he should get a warm ovation. But even he shrugged off the significance.

“It’s my ninth year in the league, not my first,” said Hayward, who will be playing his eighth game in Indiana. 

Hayward is just 2-5 in those previous visits but Indy has brought out some solid basketball. During his last visit there in March 2017, Hayward scored 38 points on 16-of-24 shooting in a Jazz loss. He scored 30 there in November 2014 as well.

“It’s always a little bit special when we play in Indiana, no matter what, just because I’m from there and I grew up watching the Pacers,” said Hayward, who played his high school ball in nearby Brownsburg. "I have a bunch of family and friends there.

“The hardest part is trying to be able to see everybody. I can only be in one place.”

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That’s a battle some of their biggest fans are fighting. The Butler men’s basketball team plays an exhibition game on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Hinkle Fieldhouse, which might allow some fans to scramble between the two hoops events. The Celtics are also not scheduled to fly to Denver until Sunday afternoon, which should afford some time to catch up with familiar faces after the game.

For Hayward, this trip to Indy should at least be more enjoyable than his frequent visits there while rehabbing last season. The Celtics frequently flew Hayward to Indianapolis last April in order to work with a running specialist at St. Vincent Sports Performance, a group of trainers he had spent time with while at Butler.

But being away from his family, and his teammates at the start of the playoffs, didn’t allow Hayward to truly enjoy being on his home turf.

“To be honest, it wasn’t fun at all,” said Hayward. “I kept flying back and forth from here to Indy, and days were basically starting at 8, getting done at 5, then I was just sitting in the hotel. It wasn’t fun at all.”

Saturday’s game? That could be fun, particularly if Hayward continues to show the progress we’ve seen in recent games.

But, ultimately, it’s only fun for Stevens and Hayward if Boston emerges with a win.

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