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MIAMI - Following the Boston Celtics’ 115-99 loss to the Miami Heat on Thursday night, point guard Kyrie Irving snuck out of the locker room just as media members were entering. Ball in hand, Irving quickly moved down the hallway and out of sight. Theories were exchanged amongst the press, with some under the impression that he was exchanging items with Dwyane Wade, while others projected exactly what the all-star guard was doing - getting shots up. Thursday night saw Boston’s four-game win streak come to a close, but Irving said it wasn’t so much about the game, as much as it was about him wanting to correct some of his wrongs from the loss.
“My strength and conditioning coach would probably kill me for doing stuff that,” said Irving. “But I just wanted to feel good about my jump shot, shots that I missed tonight, very makable ones, and the shots that I didn’t take tonight, just want to feel good about it, that’s all.”
Irving was in there for roughly 35 minutes, but the 26-year-old said it wasn’t a straining workout.
“I was just kind of imitating some things that the defense was doing to me tonight,” said Irving. ... “It’s just good to get some shots up. Just release some stress a little bit. After a tough loss off the back-to-back, ya know, it’s just good to see the shot go in. It’s just therapeutic. ... It’s not so much about the frustration from the game, sort of say, it’s just more or less therapeutic for you to go out there and feel good about your game.”
Irving didn’t have a bad shooting night, as he went 10/19 from the floor with 22 points in 34 minutes. Despite the solid numbers, Irving constantly reiterated that this was a stress reliever. With the term stress being thrown around, many people will speculate if this postgame workout was tied to the second-quarter scuffle between Marcus Morris and Jaylen Brown. For what it’s worth, Irving seemed in good spirits following his 30-minute workout, joking around when the light’s went off in the middle of his press scrum.
The lights went out during Kyrie’s postgame availability.
— Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) January 11, 2019
Of course, someone said he shot the lights out after the game. His response? “Shit I was above 90% up there for sure. No defense.” pic.twitter.com/KLjWEfeM5f
The Celtics will stay in Miami tonight, before heading to Orlando tomorrow afternoon before they face the Magic on Saturday at 7:00 PM EST.