Kyrie Irving has hit some pretty big shots at the buzzer in his career, but Thursday night was not one of them.
In fact, the play wasn’t even designed for him.
The Boston Celtics, who trailed by as many as nine in the fourth quarter but fought back down the stretch, fell to the Eastern Conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks 98-97 at Fiserv Arena.
With 3.5 seconds left and Marcus Smart handling the inbounds pass for the Celtics, Irving cut to Smart and received the ball at the top of the 3-point line. Irving went to his left and drove to the net, but was unable to drain the would-be game-winning floater with his left hand.
After the game, head coach Brad Stevens admitted the final play actually was drawn up for Marcus Morris. Before cutting to Smart, Irving had set a pick to try and get Morris free so he could cut to the basket. But as Morris attempted to head to the rim, he was held by Khris Middleton and was unable to get any separation.
“I tried to set a good screen (for Morris),” Irving told reporters after the game, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “I don’t know if he got fouled or not, I don’t know what happened. And then I had 3.5 and tried to make the best play.”
Here are some other notes from Thursday’s Celtics-Bucks game:
— It was quite clear that both teams struggled to find a rhythm in their first game after the layoff.
The Celtics (and Bucks) just laid brick after brick for stretches, shooting as poorly as 32 percent in the third quarter — although they did rebound with a 48 percent clip in the final stanza.
The Celtics finished the night shooting 38.2 percent.
— Both Al Horford and Jayson Tatum recorded double-doubles in the loss. Horford dropped 21 points and added a season-high 17 rebounds, while Tatum posted 17 points with 10 boards.
— Boston didn’t do itself many favors by its difficulty getting to the free-throw line. The C’s took just six free throws all night, which marks a season-low.
— With the Celtics’ loss and 76ers’ win, Philadelphia now owns sole possession of fourth place in the Eastern Conference, slipping the C’s to fifth. Boston still has a comfortable 7.5-game lead over the sixth-place Brooklyn Nets.
