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Los Angeles • Gordon Hayward's only playoff memories were bad ones.
And now, more than ever, the Utah Jazz will have to lean on the All-Star forward if that trend is going to change.
After watching his teammate, star center Rudy Gobert, drag himself across the hardwood floor in the opening seconds of Saturday night's Game 1 at Staples Center, lost for who knows how long with a sprained left knee, Hayward surely felt the already substantial weight on his shoulders grow heavier still.
Against the Clippers, in his first taste of the playoffs in five years, Hayward finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, as the Jazz beat the Clippers 97-95 on Joe Johnson's buzzer-beater.
It was the first playoff win of Hayward's career and the first for the Jazz in seven years.
Hayward's history with the NBA postseason had been unfavorable, as he recounted Saturday morning, hours before he would lead the Jazz onto the court for Game 1 of their first-round series with the Clippers.
In his rookie season, the Utah Jazz were dominated, knocked out in four games by the San Antonio Spurs.
"Just getting swept. … It's hard to remember much else about it," Hayward said. "We were just outmatched. That's what I remember a lot."
Then, over the some of the past five years, Hayward would find himself back in his hometown as the Indiana Pacers pushed deep into the postseason.
"It's always tough watching other teams in the playoffs," he said. "In the past, I would go back to Indianapolis, and they would always be in the playoffs … and the city was buzzing with excitement."
"That was tough to have to sit and watch," Hayward added. "You're wondering, 'What can I do to help my team get there?' "
Now it's up to Hayward to keep the Jazz there.
Long before his star center was dragging himself across the floor, unable to stand on his own, Quin Snyder had predicted his team would take a blow.
"The reality is you're going to get punched," the Jazz coach had said.
It wasn't a punch, but rather a shot to the knee that dropped Gobert, knocking him out of Game 1 on the first possession of Saturday night.
That's when another one of Snyder's remarks became prescient.
"When there is adversity, we have to rise to it," he said.
So with another bad playoff memory in the making, Hayward did his best to change things.
"Pressure is something that I've embraced this season," he had said before the game. "Sitting there watching the playoffs, I knew I had to be better. It's what drove me the last offseason to work as hard as I did."
And after five straight seasons of mid-April vacations, Hayward doesn't want this run to end early.
Twitter: @aaronfalk