Kyrie Irving must instill his latest message into his teammates from afar.
The Boston Celtics point guard will miss Monday night’s game at the Brooklyn Nets due to a bruised right quadriceps, the team announced in a statement. However, he’s expected to be healthy enough to play Wednesday night when the Toronto Raptors visit TD Garden.
Marcus Smart also will miss Monday night’s game due to illness.
Terry Rozier is expected to start at point guard in Irving’s absence.
Irving said he suffered the injury during Saturday’s loss to the Orlando Magic.
Following the 105-103 loss, Irving called out his younger teammates for not playing hard enough over the full 48 minutes.
Like fans, he’ll be interested to see whether his words will galvanize the Celtics after back-to-back losses. A third consecutive setback on Monday would sour Boston’s mood ahead of a visit by the Raptors, whose 33-12 record is the best in the NBA at this point in the season.
