A 1-1 tie in an Eastern Conference Semifinals series could call for a great deal of things. For the Boston Celtics, however, it is simply a wake-up call — one that rang throughout their locker room late Tuesday night.
The Celtics were thrashed by the Milwaukee Bucks, 123-102, in Game 2, notching their only defeat thus far in the playoffs.
In a situation where there is typically no reason to hit the panic button, Boston suddenly carries a hefty burden ahead of its next matchup. Such is the case with its star point guard Kyrie Irving, who played arguably the worst playoff game of his career in the loss, scoring just nine points on 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) shooting from the field.
Per Jay King of The Athletic, Irving said:
It starts with the example of me being down in that paint and making the right reads. And I failed to do that tonight. That responsibility falls on me, in terms of that just controlling the tempo a lot better.
And he likely will do better, as he’s not the kind of player to make a habit of doing otherwise.
This response is certainly more encouraging than his dispirited one after a bad performance against the Toronto Raptors in February, where his comments were deemed not “Celtic-like.”
Yet, perhaps it is a subliminal message that he’s out the door if the C’s fall short of their ultimate goal in the forthcoming days.
But one of the franchise’s former stars claims it’s bound to happen no matter the outcome of Boston’s current playoff run.
Former Celtics forward Antoine Walker said on Fox Sports 1’s “First Things First” on Wednesday that the 27-year-old guard will bid adieu to the Celtics this offseason.
Walker explained:
I believe Kyrie Irving is out of Boston regardless of what happens in this playoff series … He’s taking the playoffs as a situation to have fun, to go out and play to see how far they can go.
Walker played eight years with the Celtics, serving as one of the game’s most dominant post players in that juncture. He won an NBA Championship with the Miami Heat in 2006.
Though the former All-Star power forward may have a worthy observation here, it’s fair to say he’s far from pro-Kyrie at this point.
Friday night may only be viewed as Game 3, but a loss could mean the first building block of Irving’s impending departure this summer.
For now, add Walker’s remark to the NBA’s growing list of speculation and hearsay.
