Kyrie Irving appeared unfazed Tuesday night after the Celtics dropped Game 2 in Milwaukee 123-102, and with the series knotted at 1-1, the All-Star point guard said this is precisely why Boston traded for him two summers ago.
“Game 3, I’m looking forward to it,” Irving told reporters.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way with 29 points and 10 rebounds, as the Bucks held Irving to nine points on 4-of-18 shooting in the loss.
Per ESPN:
“There’s no extra burden,” Irving said. “This is what I signed up for. This is what Boston traded for me for.
“Being able to go back, get back in the trenches, get ready for another battle on Friday, that’s what you live for. Basketball is fun when it comes like this and you have to respond, and this is the type of basketball you want to be playing this time of year.”
And, despite their struggles against the Bucks on Tuesday, Irving remains confident his team has what it takes to maintain control of this series as it shifts to Boston for Game 3 Friday.
“It’s the playoffs,” Irving said. “We’re playing against a great team. They’re No. 1 in the Eastern Conference for a reason. They finished the regular season strong, came out and did what they were supposed to do in the playoffs, and now it’s two great teams going against one another.”
“I’ve been in too many battles going back and forth to get too high or too low. Going back home you always feel good, but this one would have been great to get, but we didn’t so now we go back home and reset our mindset going in and just have fun playing the game of basketball. Game 3, I’m looking forward to it.”
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