Kyrie Irving is ready to get revenge on Jamal Murray
By Cody Rivera
The Celtics and Nuggets will meet again later in the season, and Kyrie Irving is looking forward to an opportunity for revenge against Jamal Murray.
Jamal Murray really appears to have gotten into the head of Kyrie Irving. Maybe even so much so that Irving is now anxiously anticipating the next meeting between the Boston Celtics and the Denver Nuggets.
Emotions ran a little bit too high and tempers flared a little bit too much, when the Celtics and Nuggets met for their first game of the season on Monday night at the Pepsi Center.
Denver defeated Boston 115-107 thanks to Jamal Murray playing the game of his life, scoring a career-high 48 points.
But what didn’t sit right with Irving was when Murray launched a last-second 3-point attempt, despite the Nuggets boasting a seven-point lead, hoping to crack 50 points on the night.
Irving was so miffed by what Murray did that he grabbed the basketball and hurled it into the stands after the final buzzer.
Irving’s actions earned him a fine of $25,000, but that seems to be OK with him. He remains completely unamused by Murray’s decision to go for 50.
The Celtics and Nuggets play again on March 18 at the TD Garden, and according to Jay King of The Athletic, Irving is looking forward to what might become a revenge game for him and the Celtics.
Kyrie Irving on his fine: “Well deserved.”
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) November 6, 2018
Took full responsibility for his actions, but also noted of Jamal Murray, “You just don’t play basketball like that. ... it’s just petty, it’s immature. But we’ll see him again though.”
Is Irving reading a little too much into this? Probably. It was obviously a very special night for Murray, and his emotions may have gotten the better of him.
Going for 50 might not have been the classy thing to do, but Irving should be more frustrated with the fact that his team played such poor defense to even allow Murray to put up those numbers.
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Nevertheless, if it really bothered Irving as much it seems like it did, it’s highly unlikely that he’s going to forget about it any time soon. He might just hold that grudge all the way until March 18.
If that’s the case — and it definitely could be with a player like Irving — then that upcoming game at the Boston Garden might be a bit heated.