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Tim BontempsESPN
BOSTON – Kyrie Irving found himself back on the famous Boston Celtics parquet floor on Christmas Day, wearing his usual 11 shirt – the same number he said he expected a day hanging on the rafters here inside TD Garden.
Only this time, Irving was not playing for the Celtics. Instead, in his first game back here since leaving as a free agent last summer, he reminded Boston why he traded for him in the first place, scoring a Brooklyn Nets Christmas – record 37 points, while Kevin Durant added 29 , while Brooklyn erased a gap deficit and defeated the Celtics in a 123-95 victory.
“It wasn’t tactical at all to go into the second half,” said Irving, after he and Durant each scored 20 points after the break, almost defeating the entire Celtics team alone.
“It was really up to us to make high IQ plays in basketball and then be able to stop them in defense.”
The Nets have a ton of offensive firepower around their two stars, but the plan in the second half, for the most part, was simply to get the ball to Irving or Durant and get out of the way. And to be fair, when a team has two of the best isolation scorers in the league, this is a way to play with a very high IQ.
“They are very capable of playing,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. “I think [Brooklyn is] the deepest team in the NBA and is certainly in the conversation to be the best. “
Although Irving and Durant opted to join last year, it took 18 months for the partnership to materialize on the court, thanks to Durant’s recovery from surgery for a broken Achilles tendon. And because of shoulder problems that Irving had last season, it took him the same time to make his official return to the place he called home for two seasons.
But the two stars more than made up for the wait with a sparkling performance, as each was able to mark with the usual ease that they both made their names separately in the past decade.
With Kemba Walker, Irving’s replacement as a point guard here in Boston, sidelined as part of an ongoing program to strengthen his left knee, the Celtics were simply defeated by the two offensive supernovae they were facing. Irving and Durant repeatedly got their favorite shots with calm precision that Boston, despite often playing a good defense, was left without the strength to stop.
This was especially the case in the second half, when Irving and Durant evenly divided 40 points in the shot from 15 to 21 – including 6 to 7 in the 3-point range.
On the other hand, the Celtics, as a team, scored just 41 points after the break.
“Definitely not,” said Celtics owner Marcus Smart, when asked if he was surprised at how the Brooklyn stars looked. “You have two of the best players in the game so far. They have some great players around them to follow. So we are not surprised; we have to go out and be better. We have to be precise with everything we do. We have to execute the best of our ability, because that’s what they force you to do. They force you to have to be almost perfect and you have to respect that. “
Ultimately, it was the attraction of this partnership that took Irving away from Boston and Brooklyn in the first place. And through two games, the Nets are excited about the way they are progressing – although Irving is not satisfied with things as they are.
“What is there to be content with?” he asked. “What’s there to be happy about? It’s two games. Let’s move on to the next game. Let’s get ready for Charlotte. Let’s do this again. Let’s have fun.
“Obviously, we want this season to run on a very patient current. We don’t want to rush this. I know what the story is like, and when you’re part of it, and I don’t want to take any guaranteed day, so I’m grateful to share this journey with these faces. “
Although Irving’s last season in Boston was tumultuous, both he and the Celtics publicly went out of their way to appear to bury the hatchet. Just as he did a week ago, after Brooklyn destroyed Boston in the final pre-season game between the two teams, Irving had a long and friendly conversation immediately afterwards with several Celtics, including assistant coach Jerome Allen, young stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, and Intelligent, Walker and Daniel Theis.
And as he did after that game, when asked whether to play – and win – in Boston had some extra meaning, Irving praised his former teammates.
“I am very grateful that we are all healthy and everyone is here to be able to play the game we love,” said Irving. “Obviously, fighting these guys, fighting the coaches that I had almost a year and a half ago, as I said, I’m grateful. We will continue to see them, we are in the same category. So, to start here in Boston, nothing added. “