Tag: 2021 NBA playoffs

Kyrie Irving and his Nets teammates were incensed after a fan threw a water bottle toward them

The water bottle missed Kyrie Irving’s head as he was walking off the court.

Kyrie Irving has not had the warmest of welcomes back to Boston in the 2021 NBA Playoffs. Irving felt the heat from Celtics fans during Game 3 of Boston’s series against the New York Nets and received boos before the warmups of Game 4.

Boos are all well and good, but on Sunday a fan cross the line after chucking a water bottle at Irving and his Nets teammates on their way back to the locker room following a 141-126 New York final. Irving and his teammates were not pleased at all with the fan and stopped to argue with the Celtics supporter before leaving the court.

Here’s how the incident went down postgame.

That is clearly a water bottle being thrown, which nearly hit Irving on his way off the court. It was reported after the game that the Celtics fan in question was arrested and escorted out of TD Garden by police in handcuffs.

After the game, Kevin Durant had some… choice words for the unruly fans.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen fans toss things at players this week, as a Sixers fan was ejected from the Wells Fargo Center after dumping popcorn on Russell Westbrook during Game 2 of the series.

The Nets win on Sunday now pushes the Celtics to the brink, as New York leads Boston in the series 3-1.

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Stevens, Fournier, Nesmith talk excitement, impact of playing for near-full Garden crowds

The trio shared their thoughts on how it will feel to play for the first packed house in the Garden in a very long time.

The Boston Celtics are set to have a packed house in their next tilt with the Brooklyn Nets, with a near-capacity crowd cheering on TD Garden’s home NBA team for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state government having lifted restrictions on arena capacity the day before.

The increased crowd presence clearly gave a lift to the Celtics in Game 3 to help hand them their first win of three games played in the best-of-seven series so far, and that with just 5,000 fans compared to the roughly 17,000 who will be present for Game 4 on Sunday night.

Speaking to the media after practice on Saturday, Head Coach Brad Stevens emphasized the potential impact of the boosted fan presence; “There’s a reason why people play for homecourt all year,” he explained.

Nets at Celtics: Live stream, lineups, injury reports and broadcast info for Game 4

Everything you need to know for Sunday’s home tilt with Brooklyn.

The Boston Celtics hope to seize their momentum Sunday evening and combine it with a near-capacity home crowd in Game 4 of their series with the Brooklyn Nets after a big Game 3 win at TD Garden on Friday with 5,000 fans in attendance brought the series to 1 – 2, advantage Brooklyn.

If you happen to be looking for a way to watch the action live on television or a streaming service, keep reading while we get you up to speed. The Celtics may see a pair of key players have to sit for this contest, and for the Nets, a key rotation player will remain out.

This is Boston’s last, best chance to seize an improbable advantage in the series.

Grading the Boston Celtics Game 3 vs. the Brooklyn Nets, player-by-player

The report card always looks better in light of a historic performance, but several players had plenty of room for improvement.

With a historic postseason performance from one of the Boston Celtics’ star wings and a peppering of intense (but mostly respectful) boos keeping former Celtic Kyrie Irving out of his game most of the night, Boston easily had its best game — and first win — of their 2021 first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets.

Grading individual players is always an easier task when presented with such circumstances, but the Celtics were far from perfect despite bringing the series record up to a 1 – 2 score. There were some solid supporting acts to the masterclass in offense put on by a certain St. Louis native, but also a few duds.

With that said, let’s take a look at all the players who left an imprint on this game, with playing time north of 10 minutes.

Tristan Thompson is ‘super excited’ to play in front of fans at TD Garden – and it shows

The veteran big man took it to another level with a home audience to cheer him on for Game 3.

Boston Celtics veteran big man Tristan Thompson was a force to be reckoned with in the team’s 125 – 119 win over the Brooklyn Nets in Game of their first-round series Friday night, easily having his best game as a Celtic to date, spurred on by the energy of the crowd.

Thompson recorded 19 points, 13 rebounds, and an assist on 8-of-13 shooting including going 3-of-4 from the free-throw line in a high-energy outing that hearkened back to his championship days with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Asked what he thought of the game and the atmosphere with fans in the arena, the Canadian big man was ebulliently anticipatory in his reply.

“It was good, but I can’t [expletive] wait until Sunday,” he exclaimed.

Nets at Celtics: Live stream, lineups, injury reports and broadcast info – Game 3

Everything you need to know about Friday evening’s tilt with Brooklyn.

The Boston Celtics will host the Brooklyn Nets at TD Garden for the first home game of their first-round series with their Atlantic Division foes after losing the first two games of the series on the road. If you happen to be looking for a way to watch the action live on television or a streaming service, keep reading while we get you up to speed.

Injuries from the intense play are beginning to impact availability with a key rotation player out for the Nets and a starter for the Celtics now listed as questionable. But Boston seems to have dodged a bullet with Jayson Tatum looking to be ready to go for the game after a poked eye took him out of action in Game 2.

Even still, the odds remain stacked against the Celtics.

Grading the Boston Celtics Game 2 vs. the Nets, player-by-player

Game 2 didn’t go so well for the Celtics, and their report cards reflect it.

It isn’t looking good with the Boston Celtics now down 2 games to 0 in their first-round series with the mighty Brooklyn Nets after their 130 – 108 loss Tuesday night. So, in our commensurate second installment of grading each of Boston’s players on an individual basis, we wouldn’t expect to find the best report card.

But since it’s too easy to just shake our collective heads in disgust, we decided to dive into how each player executed their expected roles with some realism and context mixed in for good measure. Given the game was out of control for the bulk of the game and all of the second half, we upped the ante of game-time needed to be included to 10 minutes of floor time with much of the fourth quarter handed over (rightfully) to the deep bench.

Let’s take a look at how the team performed against the Nets.

Report: Celtics star Jayson Tatum playing through groin injury tweaked in Game 1

The St. Louis native is supposedly feeling better, but struggling from the floor in the first half of Game 2 vs. the Nets

It seems that Boston Celtics starting center Robert Williams III isn’t the only Celtic fighting through injury. TNT sideline reporter Jared Greenberg revealed that All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum has been dealing with a nagging groin injury.

Evidently not serious enough to keep the St. Louis native out of Game 2 of the series between Boston and the Brooklyn Nets, Greenberg reported that while it had been bothering Tatum for the last few days after tweaking it in Game 1, the Celtic star was feeling much better. If that was the case, i didn’t show in the first half of the contest, with the Duke product scoring just 7 points on 2-of-10 shooting.

For the Celtics to have any chance at all of stealing a game — never mind the series — they’ll need a healthy Tatum on the floor to do it.

With Timelord already fighting his way through a painful case of turf toe and Jaylen Brown out for the season with a torn ligament in his wrist, an overmatched Boston franchise could only hope to limit the damage with Tatum playing injured.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Celtics at Nets: Live stream, lineups, injury reports and broadcast info for Game 2

Everything you need to know for Tuesday’s tilt with Brooklyn in the Eastern Conference first round.

The Boston Celtics face the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center for Game 2 of their best-of-seven first-round playoff series in the 2021 NBA Playoffs, and they do it down a game to nil after having dropped Game 1 104 – 93 on the road as well. And if you happen to be looking for a way to watch the action live on television or a streaming service, keep reading while we get you up to speed.

With starting big man Robert Williams III likely available for the second straight game and perhaps better rested with some time off, the odds may favor Boston ever so slightly more than in Game 1.

The problem with that is that the Celtics are still significant underdogs in this series.

WATCH: Did Jayson Tatum play well enough for the Boston Celtics to beat the Brooklyn Nets?

Was there more he could have done to help his team get the win?

Boston Celtics All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum couldn’t will himself to one of his recent transcendent performances in a postseason contest where he needed it most, but did he do enough to help his team to win with what he was able to leave on the court?

The St. Louis native had a rough shooting night, going 1-for-4 from 3 and just 6-of-20 overall. But he also got the line 11 times, converting 9 attempts, and dished 5 assists to his teammates. Even superstars can have off nights, but were there other things Tatum might have done to secure the win against the odds?

The hosts of the CLNS podcast “The Garden Report” weighed in on this question, also touching on the game’s biggest takeaways, what went well, and what needs to change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kDE5FW4LWA

Watch the video embedded above to hear their take on the Game 1 loss, as well as touching on what might be coming down the pike.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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