Between the bile Kyrie Irving has gotten from Boston fans and the thrown water bottle that a police report revealed grazed his head, Kyrie Irving is probably looking forward to putting this Celtics series in the rearview mirror for a host of reasons.
Irving’s coach said as much before the Nets looked to close out Boston in Tuesday’s Game 5 at Barclays Center.
“I think it’d be nice for him to finish this and get that whole Boston experience in a sense behind him,” Steve Nash said. “I haven’t talked to him about it. I’d imagine there would be another element of closure, to finish the series off.”
Cole Buckley — the Celtics fan who allegedly threw the water bottle at Irving — had his arraignment moved from Tuesday to Wednesday, according to WBZ in Boston. The 21-year-old is facing a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and was released on $500 bail.
“The bottle throwing is just unacceptable. It’s not part of the game,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “It’s not the way anybody in the stadium, 99.9 percent of the people in the stadium want to be represented. It’s just unacceptable and I was glad it was handled accordingly.
Kyrie Irving AP“A lot of these incidents that are happening across the league — understand that fans can bring a lot of passion, and rightfully so — but it has to be within the confines of being respectful, and understanding that these guys are giving their all for their team. Regardless of the team you’re cheering for, they should be treated with dignity and respect. Throwing something at somebody is not OK.”
After a Philadelphia fan dumped popcorn on Russell Westbrook and a fan in the Garden spat at Trae Young, this was one of the latest example of fans acting like fools. It’s led to questions about what can be done to prevent these kind of incidents.
“This type of stuff is happening more frequently now in an NBA playoff context,” Nash said. “We’ve had a little cluster of events that are unacceptable and that I’d like not to be a part of the experience at our games; but there’s not always a magic pill.
“I don’t know what we can do in the short term other than banning people. So it might take some time before we find some solutions to eradicate it or to have a little bit more control over those situations. … We hope it doesn’t become more of a trend, but there’s no quick solution I don’t think.”
Jeff Green (left plantar fascia strain), Alize Johnson (left ankle sprain) and Spencer Dinwiddie (right ACL) were all out for the Nets.
Meanwhile, Jaylen Brown (wrist), Robert Williams III (left ankle sprain) and Kemba Walker (left knee) sat for Boston.
The crowd for Tuesday’s Game 5 at Barclays Center was expected to be nearly 15,000, with 96 percent vaccinated. … The Empire State Building lit up its tower in black and white on Tuesday to celebrate the game.







