Hayward feels good, Kyrie's still clutch and other takeaways from Day 1 of training camp

A mix of reaction and analysis from the Auerbach Center after the Celtics wrapped up their first day of training camp with a double session in Brighton.

Attendance 

All Celtics took part in the practices besides Jabari Bird (away from team). Robert Williams did not take part in the scrimmages as the team decided to take it easy on him during his first day.

Scrimmage result

Starters beat the bench unit in the final scrimmage of the day, 30-29. Watch full video here.

Takeaways 

Gordon Hayward felt good after day one: The All-Star went through the double session with no limitations in first official practice with the team in 11 months.

"It felt amazing," Hayward said. "It was amazing to be out there with my teammates. One day down for me on the road back. It felt really good."

The swingman's day was highlighted by a dunk in one of the scrimmages, a move that earned an acknowledgment from his head coach.

"I dunked off my left foot today, so that was nice," Hayward said. "Single-leg dunk. Coach Stevens said something in front of everybody, so it was good. I think it’s still not there yet ... all the way. I think that’s going to be the last piece, and it’ll come slowly throughout the year -- more and more just playing and doing it. I think I’ve just got to keep doing it. But yeah, it’s coming, it’s coming along."

The plan for Hayward is to continue with no limitations if his body responds well on Wednesday. He will make his preseason debut on Friday in the opener down in North Carolina.

Kyrie Irving picks up where he left off: The All-Star point guard raved about how his body was feeling in media day on Monday, and it didn't take long for that to show in his first day of training camp. Irving keyed a 7-0 run over the final two minutes of a scrimmage against the bench unit, hitting a tough bank shot in traffic and a pull-up 3 to seal the win for the starters.

"Kyrie was good," Hayward said. "He hit a game-winner there at the end of practice. I think he’s working through some of the same things I’m working through as far as being hurt, trying to find a rhythm and groove. Kyrie looked like Kyrie. He was really good."

The video shows that burst seems to be back already with Kyrie as he made the likes of Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier look bad on a couple of possessions. It's one thing to see players talk about it during pickup games. But for a guy that gets buckets easier than most players late in games, it's a welcome addition to a C's offense that struggled understandably throughout the postseason.

Brad Stevens is taking advance of his continuity by installing more sets: With 11 new faces, the head coach had to keep things simple last year in training camp. He has no such worry in 2018, with nearly every rotation player returning. Stevens wasted little time to take advantage of this in day one of camp, installing a ton of new offense that should help propel the team into one of the better units in the league.

“We put in a ton this morning," Stevens admitted. "With the amount of guys we have back, I think that was appropriate, because they can pick up some of the things we did last year and then some of the new tweaks that we’re doing they picked up pretty fast. And then today, we did a lot more defensive work and a lot more up-and-down competitive (work). We got a good day of work in conditioning-wise, but we have a long way to go, basketball efficiency-wise.”

While the volume may be overwhelming to some of the younger guys, no one is questioning the gameplan.

"It’s just familiarity there," Irving admitted. "We don’t really have to spend so much time teaching just the basics. We kind of know what our spots are. It’s just figuring out the continuity of our team on the offensive end. Defensively, we’re going to be who we are. That’s our identity. We have a lot of players that make a lot of plays on the defensive end.

"Offensively, we’re going to surprise a lot of teams too, just based on our spacing and our lineups. I’m excited to see what that looks like. Brad did put in a shit-ton today, but that’s who he is. He’s a basketball genius for me. When he’s out there teaching us, you just appreciate it."

Stevens will slow the pace over the next few days to allow everything to soak in ahead of the preseason opener, but he's confident with the team's ability to figure things out.

“We want to throw it all at them, and then we’ll break it down and try to get as good as we can at that and move forward after that. But I think we went through a lot. And guys picked it up really quickly. They’re very smart -- they’ve got a lot of experience doing that.”

Up next: Double session on Wednesday.