Morning sports update: Kyrie Irving ‘in a great place’ as he supports Celtics from the sidelines
Mookie Betts hit three home runs for the Red Sox in their 5-4 win over the Royals, snapping a tie with Ted Williams for the most three-homer games in franchise history. The Lightning beat the Bruins 4-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the second-round series. The Celtics face the 76ers in Game 2 at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
Kyrie Irving ‘in a great place’ as he supports Celtics from the sidelines
Kyrie Irving has made peace with the decision to remove two screws from his left knee last month. The surgery shut the Celtics star down for the season, but Irving is trying to contribute from the bench as Boston heads deeper into the playoffs.
“I’m in a great place,” he said on SportsCenter, per ESPN’s Chris Forsberg. “The first thing that comes to mind is just coming to the realization that the best time of the year is usually end of the season, going into the playoffs where you really start to develop that cohesion, your blood starts boiling a little bit because now this is the highest level of basketball and that’s the playoffs. You have goals that you set and you always want to hit those goals, but when you’re derailed and it goes in another direction based on some uncontrollable things, it’s your best bet to just take a second to reflect and try to move forward as best as I can and show as much support as I can for my teammates and the best fans, the Boston fans.”
Irving has watched Terry Rozier, Jayson Tatum and the rest of the younger Celtics step up in his absence. He said they’re playing like experienced veterans and he’s “nothing but proud of them, as well as Brad Stevens and the coaching staff.”
“I’m not so much separated in age; I’m more separated in my years of experience,” Irving said. “I try to offer a lot of knowledge from my unique opportunities of being in Cleveland and learning a lot of things, then coming to Boston and being with these young guys that just have a thirst for knowledge. They want to be great. It’s easy to help individuals like that. They’re in the gym every single day, they’re dedicated to film work, making sure they take care of the bodies, and, also, I think that the strongest trait about them is that they all want to learn. I’m just happy to be part of their journey. I just want to see them be great.”
3 takeaways from the Bruins’ Game 3 loss to Lightning: In a lethargic performance at the TD Garden, the Bruins’ puck management was sloppy and the officiating drew the ire of Brad Marchand. Bruce Cassidy has some decisions to make heading into Game 4.
“We were slow at times, and stubborn,” Boston’s head coach said postgame. (Boston.com)
Redskins cheerleaders describe a trip to Costa Rica that crossed a line: During a 2013 trip to Costa Rica for a calendar photos shoot, team officials collected the cheerleaders’ passports upon arrival at the resort, invited spectators to a revealing photo shoot, and told some of the women they had be personal escorts at a nightclub.
“The issue was that management seemed to condone all of this,” one cheerleader who was there said. (Boston.com)
Here’s the latest on Jaylen Brown’s hamstring injury: The Celtics beat the 76ers in Game 1 without Jaylen Brown, after the 21-year-old strained his right hamstring in Game 7 against the Bucks. They may have to try and so again on Thursday, because head coach Brad Stevens says Brown is “very doubtful” for Game 2. (Boston.com)
Daily highlight:
https://twitter.com/RedSox/status/991784688439050240
