Friday night could have gone better for the Boston Celtics.
Thanks to a third quarter in which they conceded 40 points, the Celtics lost 123-116 to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3 of the NBA playoffs second round, and now trail 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
While the Celtics had plenty they could have done better Friday night, there was more than a few questionable, if not disturbingly poor calls. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo managed to shoot 22 foul shots, something that drew the ire of Celtics star Kyrie Irving.
And the way Irving reacted in-game got the attention of at least one member of the Bucks.
During a postgame recap for CLNS Media, Jeff Goodman relayed a message from an unnamed Bucks player about the way Irving handled himself in the Game 3 loss.
“I talked to one (Bucks) player that I will not name,” Goodman said, “And he said, ‘Listen, Kyrie was busy yelling at his players, his teammates, the coaches tonight. He just couldn’t keep it all together.'”
Indeed, Irving visibly was upset at times during the game, but it appeared much of that was directed at the officiating. However, it’s tough to argue with the assessment of a guy who actually was on the court.
To be fair to Irving though, he’s admitted that he’s still working on improving as a leader, so there might be some things from Friday he wants back. Irving also acknowledged that there were things the Celtics needed to clean up, so he didn’t place the entire loss on the officiating.
Either way, there’s plenty the Celtics need to do between now and Monday’s Game 4 if they want to avoid getting pushed to the brink of elimination.
