The NBA playoffs have produced enough good matchups to keep the first round interesting, even though the NBA is typically chalky around this time. There weren’t many great games this weekend. The first two on Saturday weren’t bad as Jazz and Timberwolves took road wins. The Bulls kept things tighter Sunday in Milwaukee than almost everyone thought, thanks to the Bucks having a wayward shooting night for the most part.
The weekend’s undisputed game came in Boston, where the Celtics won Game 1 115-114 over the nets after Jayson hit Tatum’s buzzer beating layup. It had everything you could want in a playoff game — leadership changes, heroic performances, drama, everything that goes into the promotional campaigns.
saddley, it’s overshadowed by Kyrie Irving fading out the Boston crowd. I’m sure there will be many pundits in the days to come clicking their tongues at Irving, citing “professionalism” or “maturity” or “part of the job.” Most of them haven’t had drunk Bostonians yelling at them point-blank range…or are drunk Bostonians yelling at people point-blank range.
There’s no doubt that Irving heard some terrible shit from Celtics fans during Game 1 because we’ve been down this road before. Celtics fans, and Boston fans overall, have a reputation that they’ve thoroughly earned by crossing the line. After all, subtly flipping the bird doesn’t rush into the stands. Call someone who yells, “Isn’t someone thinking about the kids?!”
On the other hand, Irving has watched his brain turn to styrofoam from snorting enough of his own farts over something he once read, and has had the opportunity to describe himself as a kind of martyr. And became a symbol for every motherfucker out there who mistook “MAH FREEDOMS” for being just a selfish lazy asshole holding the rest of us down. Honestly, people like Irving should be the ones who get yelled at loudly everywhere, within reason, rather than the other way around, where all the motherfuckers who shut down all the aisles of society are also the ones yelling at the rest of us , if we’re just trying to get to work or the store.
That doesn’t mean anyone should approve of some of the things Irving likely heard Sunday afternoon. Kyrie is one of the few anti-vax dipshits that’s put on display for us rather than hiding behind a Twitter profile or being protected by a crowd or a political press corps hell-bent on both sides. Kyrie has to face the music, which I think is a bit refreshing.
All of this leads to basically all of us losing in this battle. Kyrie didn’t really face anything because he missed part of the season so he could get lost in the empty, empty convention center between his ears. New York protocol and the will of the networks both bowed to him, not the other way around.
And we all want to see Kyrie eat shit, which encourages the loudmouths near the Garden floor, and then things generally get ugly. And Nets fans will likely feel the urge to respond as the series shifts there. And no Boston fan has ever been a sympathetic person or one whose side you would side with if you weren’t already part of the group.
Everyone gets booed in this argument. Let’s hope Boston sweeps now so it’s over as soon as possible.
