Kyrie Irving: “Coming to Boston is Easy”

Kyrie Irving was back to TD Garden after a long time, and he did something unusual before the match between his Nets and the Celtics started.

Uncle Drew burn sage to purify the air and the energy inside the arena where he spent three pretty unsuccessful years, filled with disappointment. Now many believed that smudging he made before the game had something to do with his bad history with the Celtics, but it turned out to be different.

It is the new ritual Kyrie has before every match, and he intends on practicing it before every contest.

“Being able to sage, just cleanse the energy, make sure that we’re all balanced… I saged last game, and I plan to sage almost every game if the opposing team will allow me to.”

Kevin Durant and all other Nets’ players revealed that Kyrie often does the same in the locker room and that they don’t have anything against it, as they respect his rituals. Also, for KD, this is a part of further bonding between the players.

Kyrie’s comeback to Boston generated a lot of hype, and even though there were no fans, everybody wondered what would happen. The media expected to see the reaction from both Kyrie and the Celtics’ players, as they didn’t get along very well, especially in his last year in Boston.

Still, there were no incidents or unpleasant situations, and everything ended in the best possible manner. Kyrie explained that both he and his former teammates are grown men and that they understand this is just a business. That’s why he himself won’t have any problems when coming to TD Garden, even though some would like to see something bad happening.

“Coming here is easy, man. Performing here is easy. Performing here is easy. Basketball is the easy part. It’s just the external stuff beforehand that gets noisy, so I try to limit that.”

His Nets defeated the Celtics, 113-89, heating the temperature before the Christmas Day contest, which is also at TD Garden at 5 PM ET.

Kyrie ended the game with 17 points, 7-for-16 from the field, three threes, seven boards, and five assists with two steals and a block. The 2011 draft first selection played for 28 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ar7MCYvCOw

Brooklyn started the game strong, reaching a 35-23 advantage at the end of the first quarter. They would once more demonstrate the power in the third period, limiting the home team to just 16 points, while on the other side scoring 30.

Kevin Durant played 27 minutes, dropping 25 points, with six boards and three blocks. The former MVP was 9-for-16 from the field, and 5-for-6 from the foul line.

Joe Harris played well with 14 points, four three,s while Caris LeVert added 17 off the bench in 21 minutes.

Among the Celtics, the only two players who played well were Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Tatum scored 19 buckets in 26 minutes, adding 8 boards as well. He had a poor percentage from the floor, hitting just five shots in 17 attempts. Brown, on the other hand, was terrible from downtown, with one basket in seven tries. He ended the night with 16 points.

Kemba Walker didn’t play.

The Celtics are opening the season against the Bucks on Thursday, December 24, hosting the reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and his crew. Meanwhile, the Nets await the Warriors one day earlier, with Kevin Durant facing his old team, led by Stephen Curry, who is back following a nasty injury that forced him to sit out almost the entire previous year.