The Boston Celtics were on the ultimate high after defeating the Milwaukee Bucks by 22 points in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series, prompting former Celtics legend Paul Pierce to declare the series “over” and inspiring some confidence that the young and talented squad was finally peaking at just the right time. But that was hardly the case.
The Bucks dominated the next four games of the series, closing out the Celtics on Wednesday night and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
Celtics star point guard Kyrie Irving was tremendous in the series opener, but he shot just 25-of-83 from the field for the rest of the series, bottoming out in Game 5 when he shot 6-of-21 with just one assist.
The disappointing conclusion seemed to be a fitting end given the drama and questions about Irving's leadership all season, and he has faced scrutiny over his impending free agency this summer.
Former Celtics stalwart Kendrick Perkins was highly critical of Irving during an appearance on “The Herd” on Thursday, stating again that Irving proved that he cannot be the top dog on a contending team:
"In this series I think the way Kyrie went about it was disrespectful to the city of Boston, disrespectful to the organization and he didn't represent what Celtic Pride is all about… He was a bad leader and it was proven he's not a Batman." — @KendrickPerkins pic.twitter.com/OcUQG8rJ6V
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) May 9, 2019
Irving has tried to remain calm during Boston's struggles, stating after Game 3 that he would not shoot nearly as poorly for the remainder of the series. As it turned out, things only got worse for Kyrie.
The fallout from the Celtics' demoralization at the hands of the Bucks has been fairly ugly for Irving, from backup point guard Terry Rozier talking about how much he “sacrificed” to Perkins calling Irving's performance disrespectful.
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