Getty Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving defends Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics during the 2021 NBA Playoffs.
Following the Boston Celtics‘ Game 4 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, a fan at TD Garden was captured by YES Network cameras throwing a water bottle at Nets point-man Kyrie Irving. The incident occurred after the former Celtic had endured a barrage of jeers and expletive-laden insults throughout the contest.
Irving was heading to the locker room with the rest of the Nets at the time when the unnamed fan hurled the bottle in his direction. Fortunately, the bottle missed its mark.
Here’s the video, via House of Highlights:
Shortly thereafter, YES Network’s Michael Grady tweeted a picture of the alleged assailant — a Celtics fan in a Kevin Garnett jersey — being taken into custody by police.
Irving had been a frequent target of Celtics fans’ ire since before he left the club to join Kevin Durant and the Nets as a free agent in 2019. However, the bad blood reached new heights ahead of Game 3 when Irving referred to the possibility that he and his teammates could be on the receiving end of some “subtle racism” from the Beantown crowd.
Although his comments didn’t sit well with some of the Boston faithful, Celtics big man Tristan Thompson and others backed Irving’s assessment of a certain segment of Celtics Nation. And the latest incident may lend further credence to that assessment.
At the least, it’s yet another example of fans behaving in an abhorrent manner in NBA arenas.
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A Disturbing Trend
This is the fourth major incident involving bad fan behavior to occur in the last week.
In Philadelphia, a fan similarly dumped popcorn on Washington Wizards guard Russell Westbrook. On the same day, a fan in New York spit on Wizards guard Trae Young and a group of fans in Salt Lake City used misogynistic and racist verbiage to harass the family of Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant.
All three of the previous incidents resulted in some level of ban for the offending individuals.
In the wake of the latest incident, Durant had a strong response when asked about what has become a disturbing trend recently.
“Fans gotta grow up at some point,” Durant postgame, via The Athletic. “When you come to these games, you gotta realize these men are human. It’s not all about you as a fan. Have some respect for yourself. Grow the f**k up and enjoy the game.”
The Game Wasn’t Great, Either
Bad fans aside, Sunday evening was a rough one for the Celtics on multiple fronts.
Although the team and its fanbase were brimming with enthusiasm after Boston’s Game 3 win, major blows were dealt on gameday when Kemba Walker and Rob Williams were ruled out due to injury.
In spite of their absences, the Celtics got off to a relatively strong start. Feeding off the energy of an almost-capacity crowd at the Garden, Boston dropped 34 first-quarter points. However, the team’s defense of Brooklyn’s big guns left a lot to be desired. And over the next two quarters, Irving and Durant helped their squad outscore the Cs 79-57.
From then on, the outcome was never really in doubt. The Nets dropped 141 points on the Celtics, never trailed after early in quarter number two and led by as many as 27 points. They also shot 57.8% from the floor, 59.3% from distance and knocked down 29 of 30 free throw attempts.
Durant finished with 42 points in the contest, while Irving chipped in with 39. James Harden scored 23 as well and added 18 assists, three blocks and two steals.
Now in a 1-3 hole, the Cs will square off with the Nets in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
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