Celtics nemesis Kyrie Irving experienced relentless heckling in his return to Boston, spending his Easter Sunday at war with the city he briefly called home. Speaking to reporters last week, Irving promised he wouldn’t give his former team any bulletin-board material. But when the lights came on at TD Garden for Game 1, the Nets All-Star simply couldn’t help himself.
Channeling his inner Shooter McGavin, the feisty point guard emptied the clip by letting out years of frustration on Celtics fans, antagonizing them in increasingly hostile fashion throughout the game. Kyrie earned every penny of his $50,000 fine, dropping F-bombs galore while flipping the bird as casually as Eminem when his hair was still blonde.
Brilliant as he was (39 points with six assists and four steals), Irving sealed Brooklyn’s fate with a pair of costly mistakes, playing hero ball on the final possession (he spent most of the shot clock dribbling into traffic) before blowing his defensive assignment on Jayson Tatum’s game-winning layup. Boston fans reveled in Irving’s misfortunate, taking victory laps at the 30-year-old’s expense.
With nothing going right in the Red Sox’s Patriots' Day loss to Minnesota (marking the 15th anniversary of the legendary “Pizza Throw”), fans at Fenway Park came together in a moment of unity Monday, bonding in their shared hatred of all things Kyrie (make sure your headphones are in if you’re listening at work).
Boston fans have gained a reputation for being unusually abusive and cruel toward opposing players, and while that line was certainly crossed last year when someone recklessly hurled a water bottle in Irving’s direction, you could argue Kyrie has brought much of this on himself, igniting tensions with his open defiance and exhausting “me against the world” mentality.
Regardless of where your allegiances lie, this has to be one of the more anticipated first-round playoff series we’ve seen in recent memory with plenty of Shakespearean elements. Make sure you have a defibrillator handy for what should be another heart-pounding affair Wednesday night at TD Garden.
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