NBA Schedule 2019-20: 5 games with the most revenge potential

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 14: Chris Paul #3 of the Houston Rockets and Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder attend a game between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty on June 14, 2019 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by David Becker/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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2. Brooklyn Nets at Boston Celtics (Nov. 27)

During an event with Boston Celtics season-ticket holders last October, Kyrie Irving pledged his loyalty to the organization.

“I’ve shared it with some of my teammates as well as the organization as well as everyone else in Boston,” Irving said. “If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here next year.”

About that.

A toxic cocktail of locker room dysfunction led the Celtics to underachieve all season, as Irving vacillated between passive-aggressiveness toward his younger teammates and galaxy-braining.

“Everyone respects his talent,” a Celtics teammate of Irving’s told Stadium’s Jeff Goodman. “But he’s hard to play with. It’s all about him.”

According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, Irving’s “rocky relationship with some of his young teammates” was “among the reasons” he wound up going back on his word and left the Celtics in free agency to sign with the Brooklyn Nets instead. On Nov. 27, he’ll make his first trip back to Boston as a member of the Nets, where he’ll face the young teammates who ESPN’s Jalen Rose said would “help him pack.”

Perhaps Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart hold no ill will toward Irving and will be grateful for having additional opportunities afforded to them in his absence. In all likelihood, though, they’ll be eager to prove that they’re much better off with new Celtics point guard Kemba Walker than they ever were with Irving.

Irving, meanwhile, will seek to drown out a cacophony of boos from Boston fans with an explosive performance that reminds everyone where he stands in the hierarchy of the league’s elite point guards.

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