Kyrie Irving had just finished shredding the Celtics’ defense for the past 41 minutes when he made his way to center court at TD Garden. Irving’s 39-point performance infuriated the nearly 17,000 fans who had come to boo him, and that rage only intensified when, before leaving the floor, he wiped his shoe on the face of Lucky, the leprechaun at the center of the Celtics’ midcourt logo, before heading to the Nets locker room. In a matter of minutes, Irving figuratively and literally stomped on his former organization.
The Nets 141-126 blowout win in Game 4 didn’t just exorcise Irving from the two-day jeering he took in Boston. The build-up from Friday’s Game 3 loss into Sunday marked the first real adversity the Nets faced this season with all three star players healthy. Consider it passed, as
