Kyrie Irving was in a train of emotions making his way back to Quicken Loans Arena, a hardwood he called home during his last six years with the franchise prior to being traded to the Boston Celtics this summer.

The scoring point guard tallied 22 points, 10 assists, four rebounds, and three steals in his Celtics debut, coming up short in a 102-99 loss on the road.

Kyrie Irving
Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

“Really hard game for a guy to have to play in,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens, according to Scott Patsko of Cleveland.com. “Especially the first game of the season. All the emotions that go through it, how he can play at that level is beyond me.”

Irving missed the game's last shot, a fadeaway 3-pointer from the right wing, slightly contested by his former buddy LeBron James after getting his hands on the ball following a Jaylen Brown deep miss.

kyrie irving, gordon hayward
The Associated Press

“I wish I had my legs underneath me,” Irving said of the final shot. “Got a good look from J.B. on the first one. Young guy trying to take a big shot like that with six seconds left on the clock. That takes some big guts. I told him after that to do what you need to do to mentally get over this one and get prepared for the next one.

“I've been in that position, obviously I got my shot and we both missed. So, you know, my mentality is get the next one. (The second half) was a step in the right direction. Let's just continue to get better.”

Kyrie Irving's last second miss was tough to swallow, with the weight of the entire building seemingly pressing on him to come short, but the Celtics' biggest loss happened in the first quarter, as running mate Gordon Hayward suffered a gruesome dislocated ankle and tibial fracture, which could sideline him for an extended period of time.