BOSTON — When Nets coach Steve Nash was asked Wednesday, before Game 2 of the first-round playoff series, if he would prefer Kyrie Irving not get into a back-and-forth again with the Celtics fans, he stopped for a second and considered his answer.

Then, after a pregnant pause, he said, frankly, “I don’t care.”

Nash and the assembled media laughed, but Irving’s play was no joke.

After Celtics fans had thrown verbal abuse at Irving from pregame warmups all the way through Sunday’s Game 1, Irving embraced “the dark side,” he joked. The All-Star cursed back and gave several fans the finger, eventually drawing a $50,000 fine from the league office.

He was also brilliant in the game, scoring tough bucket after tough bucket. When Nash asked how many points Irving had, he was reminded the All-Star had 39.

Nash smiled and said, “I’ll keep it at that.”

Here’s the truth of the matter: Irving and the Nets don’t have even an iota of control over how the Celtics fans treat Irving. They’ve hated him since the moment he left Boston (some hated him before), threw a water bottle at him during last year’s playoffs and have booed him on every trip back to TD Garden. Heck, they boo him even when he’s not around.

Profane “F–k Kyrie, F–k Kyrie!” chants have broken out at Nets-Celtics games in which Irving wasn’t even playing. And they’ve broken out spontaneously at a couple of Red Sox games in recent days. They weren’t liable to stop during Game 2 — which the Nets dearly needed to win after losing Sunday to open the series — and aren’t going to die down anytime soon.

The best the Nets can hope for is to have Irving keep using them for fuel.

“The same energy they are giving off to him, he’s gonna give it right back. He played that way,” Kevin Durant said. “I think it’s all in the game.”

Durant knows of what he speaks. He experienced similar vitriol when he went back to Oklahoma City with the Warriors, but that has since quieted down somewhat. Irving admitted Boston fans will boo him for the rest of his career — maybe his natural life — so why not let it feed his game?

Celtics coach Ime Udoka — when asked what would be a healthy level of back and forth between the players and fans — agreed that some thrive on it.

“Talk and talk back. Keep the gestures to yourself, I guess, that’s what’s going to get you in trouble. Even now, saying things back gets caught on camera, that’s a little bit dangerous there,” Udoka said, adding, “Some players want to enjoy it, and some stay to themselves. Obviously the banter back-and-forth with certain guys amps them up.

“You see Patrick Beverley and certain guys like that enjoys jockeying with the fans. But once you do all the other, that’s all going to get caught on camera. So I’d say talk and talk back, feel free to say what you want back. But know that there will be some repercussions if certain things are heard.”

Irving is clearly that certain type of player. And if $50,000 is the repercussion for a 39-point playoff eruption against the league’s top-ranked defense, that’s a price the Nets should gladly be willing to pay.

“He thrives in every situation, whether it’s a hostile environment or not,” said Seth Curry, who played with Irving at Duke. “I think he had that interaction, but was still able to focus on his game.”

And put on a show. Frankly, this first-round series is as compelling as a conference final, and Irving’s return to TD Garden has made it even more so.

Brooklyn versus Boston — especially Irving versus Boston fans — is proving the NBA great television fodder. Make no mistake: the Association is, has been and always will be here for the drama.

That feisty Easter Sunday game pulled in an average of 6.9 million viewers according to the league, not only the highest rating this season and tops for any first-round game since 2016 (Warriors-Rockets), but the best for any opening weekend tilt since 2002.

Nash can say he doesn’t care if Irving gets into it with the fans. If the All-Star keeps feeding his dark side, the Nets should hope he does.