5 injuries with the greatest impact on the playoffs

#1 Kyrie Irving/Gordon Hayward

The two best players on the Celtics roster are out with injury

Duration of injuries: Ruled out for the rest of the season

Expected impact: The Boston Celtics go from Conference favourites to reach the NBA Finals to a first-round exit

The Boston Celtics, pre-season, were the predominant favourites to make the NBA Finals. They had put together a sturdy big 3 combo with an amazingly talented swingman in Gordon Hayward, an elite big man on both ends of the floor in Al Horford and the best ballhandler in the world in Kyrie Irving.

Not even the Cleveland Cavaliers, with the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Love and Isaiah Thomas at the time, were considered as good as the Celtics team at the time. 6 minutes into the regular season, however, the Celtics' dreaming of raising the 18th banner into their stands was dealt a body blow due to Hayward's freak injury.

While the Celtics have recovered quite credibly to post a great record of 54-26 - the best win total in Brad Stevens' Celtics reign - on the back of Irving, Horford and the best defense in the league, their title chances were then effectively ended with Irving's knee injury in March, which has now ruled him out for the rest of the season and the playoffs.

With Irving fit and firing in the playoffs, the Celtics would still have had a fighting chance of making the Finals in the Eastern Conference. With him out, they're probably headed for a first-round exit or at best a second-round exit.