Kyrie Irving almost torched a wild Celtics crowd with a sensational 39-point performance, but Jayson Tatum’s squad 1-upped Nets in the end.
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Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics rivalry has been much more fun than the time he played for the ball club. Since his without-notice departure from Boston to Brooklyn in 2019, Bostonians do not enjoy his basketball at all.
The 2021 first-round series between the two teams was also Irving’s first game back in Boston with fans in the stands, he was booed whenever he touched the ball and received consistent “Kyrie sucks!” chants. Whenever he has played at TD Garden since then, it has been as hostile for him as MSG is for Trae Young, or it was for Reggie Miller.
Irving even stomped the Celtics’ logo at midcourt following the Nets’ Game 4 win that maybe ignited a reaction from the cruel crowd who then threw a bottle at the 7-time All-Star creating massive controversy at the time.
A year later we are having the recap of First round matchup and as Kevin Durant and Co visited for Game 1, the crowd was ready to bully the Nets point guard again. Irving constantly received jeers throughout the game, but they went wild after his elbow connected with Celtics guard Marcus Smart’s face on a shot attempt in the third quarter.
All this menace just looked like it is only helping Irving if at all it was getting into his head. The 30-year-old had a massive game in the 1-point loss, sending the internet in awe of his sensational basketball.
Kyrie Irving almost made the Celtics crowd pay for their constant jeers, LeBron James and NBA Twitter still praised the point guard’s efforts.
The 2016 champion with the Cavaliers had 39 points, 5-rebounds, 6-assists, 4-steals, and a rebound to go along with 3 middle fingers for the Celtics fans in a 114-115 loss.
He did that even with the Nets trailing the game by 9 points with just 2 and a half minutes to go in the game. He led his team to a 1-point lead with a 3-pointer in the second last possession, but then KD tried to put the game to bed with a three-point attempt in the Nets’ last possession.
With a crucial Al-Horford rebound, the Celtics got the last possession with 15 seconds to go in the game and Tatum managed to pull off a 2-point play set up by none other than Smart right before the buzzer. Ironic ending for Kyrie, but the man still received NBA Twitter’s praise, including a familiar name leading the charge.
