The Celtics pushed the Cavs to a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals, but after a 10-0 start to the postseason at home, Boston finally went cold in the TD Garden, shooting a dismal 7-for-39 from three-point range in an 87-79 loss.
The Cavs advanced to a fourth straight NBA Finals, but Boston has to feel confident about the future as they are set to get a pair of All-Stars back next season. Gordon Hayward continues to rehab from his gruesome ankle injury suffered in the season-opener, but the Celtics are optimistic about his progress.
Kyrie Irving is also expected to be back with the team by training camp after he had surgery to clean up an infection in his knee from a previous surgery. On Monday night, Irving was absent from the bench as his former team took down his current squad, leading to questions, but as it turns out Irving was simply recovering from surgery to repair a deviated septum.
Kyrie Irving needed a procedure done for a deviated septum, which was why he wasn’t at Game 7, per Danny Ainge. Didn’t want to be seen after the surgery, Ainge said.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) May 28, 2018
Irving didn’t want to be on the bench with his face all bandaged up, which is fairly understandable, although not all Boston fans were thrilled he skipped the game where he could have provided support, as evidenced by the mentions to Chris Mannix’s tweet. In any case, Irving wasn’t going to be able to make any shots for the Celtics in Game 7, but they’ll hope next season he’ll be around for the playoffs and can provide a much-needed offensive boost for a team that lacked consistency on that end, particularly on the road, this postseason.
