BOSTON — There was a time when Celtics followers have been enthusiastic about Kyrie Irving. They will recall the summer season of 2017, when Irving compelled his approach out of Cleveland and landed in Boston, the place he delighted within the Celtics’ illustrious previous and pledged to do what he might to assist the workforce win.
However over Irving’s two seasons with the Celtics, all that communal pleasure morphed right into a bunch of various stuff: tolerance as he struggled with accidents, then impatience as he criticized teammates, then one thing that resembled rage because it turned clear that he and Boston have been sure for a divorce.
On Sunday afternoon, Irving was again in Boston, the place a fervent crowd at TD Backyard christened Recreation 1 of the Celtics’ first-round playoff collection with the Nets by booing Irving at each alternative. They booed him when he emerged from the guests’ tunnel for warm-ups. They booed him throughout introductions. They booed him at any time when he touched the ball. And he practically silenced them with one other tour de drive in a profession stuffed with them.
However within the opener of a best-of-seven-game conflict between groups with outsize targets, Jayson Tatum despatched the sector right into a state of pandemonium with a layup on the buzzer that gave the Celtics a 115-114 win. Recreation 2 is in Boston on Wednesday.
Irving was spectacular. He completed with 39 factors and 6 assists, and his 3-pointer with 45.9 seconds left put the Nets forward by 3. Within the course of, he reminded Boston why town needed him within the first place, whereas underscoring all of the bitterness that has adopted.
The Celtics have been undaunted within the last minute, although, and after Jaylen Brown drove for a layup, the Nets’ Kevin Durant missed an extended 3-pointer. On the different finish, the Celtics’ Marcus Good discovered Tatum, who spun previous Irving for a layup with the clock winding down. It was his best bucket of the evening.
“I feel that’s type of a microcosm of our season: guys transferring the ball, taking part in unselfish,” Celtics Coach Ime Udoka mentioned. “All of it got here collectively on the final possession.”
Tatum completed with 31 factors, and Brown had 23. Good had an astounding all-around sport, gathering 20 factors, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and a pair of steals. Durant had 23 factors and shot simply 9 of 24.
For the second straight postseason, the Nets and the Celtics are assembly within the first spherical. The final time, the Nets superior in 5 video games in a collection that solely infected the dynamic between Irving, who appeared to stomp on the Celtics’ brand at midcourt, and Boston followers, one in all whom chucked a water bottle at him.
That collection additionally helped spur important change within the Celtics’ group. Brad Stevens moved to the entrance workplace after eight seasons because the workforce’s head coach. His job was crammed by Udoka, a longtime N.B.A. assistant and Gregg Popovich disciple who appears to have unlocked the collaborative potential of Tatum and Brown. Bear in mind when the Celtics had a dropping report, 23-24, in late January? They closed the common season by going 28-7.
Udoka entered the collection uniquely accustomed to the Nets. Final season, as one in all Coach Steve Nash’s assistants, Udoka received to know Irving and Durant — and their items.
“They’re high-level scorers, they usually’re going to get what they get,” Udoka mentioned earlier than Sunday’s sport. “Simply received to maintain them in test and never allow them to go off.”
Amid a sloppy, foul-marred begin, the Celtics’ top-ranked protection gave the Nets suits, forcing seven first-quarter turnovers. The sport’s assembled stars — Irving, Durant, Brown and Tatum — mixed to overlook 12 of their first 14 field-goal makes an attempt.
Irving received going early within the second quarter with a pair of 3-pointers, the second on a pull-up in transition. The sport was tied at 61 at halftime earlier than the Celtics started to roll — a jolt that was predictably predicated on their protection. Late within the third quarter, Jaylen Brown blocked the Nets’ Bruce Brown on the rim, then raced away to transform a layup on the different finish. Then the Nets took their flip, however Tatum blocked a leap shot by Durant, then hit a 3-pointer to increase Boston’s result in 11.
Irving was just about unstoppable within the fourth quarter, scoring 18 factors on 7 of 9 capturing, which set the stage for the sport’s dramatic conclusion.
The Nets secured the No. 7 seed within the Jap Convention playoffs by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers within the play-in event on Tuesday. The Celtics had a good longer layoff, with a full week to arrange, since they closed out their common season on April 10 because the No. 2 seed. Earlier than Sunday’s sport, Udoka dismissed a query about rust.
“The vibe with the workforce is like enterprise,” he mentioned, including: “We now have a pleasant calm about us the place I don’t really feel like we’re anxious or going to be nervous on the market in any respect.”
The Celtics have been with out Robert Williams, their rim-protecting, fourth-year middle. Williams was having a breakout season when he tore the meniscus in his left knee final month and had surgical procedure. Udoka mentioned the Celtics have been making ready as if Williams wouldn’t be obtainable for the collection, although Udoka didn’t rule out the chance — nevertheless distant — of Williams might returning. “He’s progressing properly,” Udoka mentioned.
Earlier than the sport, the Celtics’ sport operations crew spiced issues up a bit on the sector’s video board by flashing a quote from Bruce Brown about how the Nets might “assault” Al Horford and Daniel Theis in Williams’s absence. (The gang booed.) Horford was terrific on Sunday, ending with 20 factors and 15 rebounds, and he was animated all through. Williams, after all, would solely improve the workforce’s championship hopes.
The Nets are used to ready, too. They waited for Irving to get vaccinated towards the coronavirus, and when he was unwilling to take action, they waited for New York Metropolis to elevate its vaccine mandates in order that he might play in house video games. Now, the Nets are ready — nonetheless ready — for Ben Simmons to take the court docket for the primary time since they acquired him in a midseason commerce with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Simmons, who has not performed since final postseason, has been coping with a balky again since arriving in Brooklyn, and nobody has any concept what he would appear to be if he have been really to take the ground towards the Celtics. On Saturday, apparently for the good thing about reporters who have been monitoring his progress, Simmons dunked at apply.
“Ensure you get this,” he mentioned to those that have been filming him with their cellphones.
On Sunday, Simmons wore mirrored sun shades on the guests’ bench as Irving and the remainder of the Nets went about their enterprise in a hostile surroundings. For one afternoon, at the very least, and by the slimmest of margins, the Celtics have been the extra full workforce.
