The Boston Celtics traveled to Orlando on Saturday night and were stunned by the Magic, falling 105-103 to their Eastern Conference foes. The manner in which the game ended appeared to make Kyrie Irving unhappy, as the All-Star guard was visibly upset with a decision that Gordon Hayward made with the game on the line.
The Celtics had the ball out of bounds on the sideline, and Hayward was tasked with getting the ball inbounds. The veteran wing threw a pass to Jayson Tatum, who missed a contested fallaway jumper that would have forced overtime if it went in. This led to a frustrated Irving — who started the sequence in the backcourt — confronting him after the miss.
Here’s the full video, watch Irving’s reaction when Hayward inbounds the ball to Tatum.
Kyrie was frustrated with Gordon Hayward and Celtics' last shot 😬 pic.twitter.com/sqnaW8amkq
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 13, 2019
He was very obviously unhappy with Hayward’s decision, appearing to point to Al Horford and, eventually, walking away. Hayward confirmed after the game that Irving did, indeed, want the ball to go to Horford, who then would have gotten the ball to him for the shot.
Hayward said Kyrie told him he wanted the pass to go to Al so Al could find Kyrie.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) January 13, 2019
Irving, meanwhile, needed some time to himself, sitting at his locker for an extended period after the game ended.
Kyrie is sitting at his locker just staring straight ahead. Hasn’t showered yet. Most of the other players have already dressed and left.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) January 13, 2019
When he did speak to the media, Irving was candid about how his younger teammates need to step their game up if they want to be champions. He also spoke about expectations, namely the ones that existed last season on their conference finals run compared to the ones on the team this year.
Kyrie Irving had a lot to say postgame but what stood out was “The young guys don’t know what it takes to be a championship level team. What it takes every day. And if they think it is hard now, what do they think it will be like when we’re trying to get to the Finals?”
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 13, 2019
Kyrie: “What we’re facing now is nothing compared to being on that stage trying to get a gold trophy. It’s hard now, what do you think it’s going to be when we get to the Finals? Let alone, shit, we’re trying to play a position right now trying to get a great seed."
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) January 13, 2019
Kyrie continued with “There were no expectations last year. Everyone played free and easy. Everyone surpassed whatever they expected for themselves. This year? We all have high expectations. The players, the coaches, everyone. And that’s good, but we aren’t doing it yet.”
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 13, 2019
Irving went on to turn the blame onto himself, saying that as a leader, he needs to be better, especially in games on the road.
Kyrie ended with “We can get there. We’ve got to be better. I’ve got to be better. We need to win these games on the road. That’s on me as a leader. I need to be a better leader and to help get us there.”
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 13, 2019
Beyond the irony of Irving sounding a whole lot like LeBron James did at points during his second stint in Cleveland, it’s obvious that this loss — which knocked Boston to 25-17 on the season and six games behind the first-place Toronto Raptors — really impacted him. That could be a really good thing. Now, it’s on Irving to use that as the Celtics look to establish themselves as a title contender after a relatively rough start to the season.
