Boston Celtics superstar point guard Kyrie Irving painfully watched on the sidelines as the Boston Celtics made a surprising run in the playoffs before bowing out in seven games to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East Finals.

What made the run more impressive was that the Celtics were without arguably two of their best players in Irving and Gordon Hayward. With Boston entering the season as heavy favorites in the East, Irving is more than ready to lead his squad.

He had some interesting comments ahead of their opener versus the Philadelphia 76ers tonight.

“Absolutely. I’m ready to kill. I’m ready to kill,” Kyrie Irving said per A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston. “It’s exciting. Because of that excitement from your teammates, it only gets me more excited. I expect the same thing from them. You think about how much talent we have and how special we are, as individuals. But the attitude and the camaraderie and the environment that the Boston Celtics have created over a tradition of years is something that I’m grateful to be a part of.”

Irving has been out since March 2018, and his statements indicate that he's been itching to get back on the court. That downtime seems to have unleashed a killer mentality in him.

Irving shut down rumors that he will sign elsewhere next season when he becomes a free agent after he publicly announced before their preseason campaign that he was committing to the team.

Right now, he is laser focused on leading loaded Celtics squad to the promised land this season. where they are billed as the toughest challenge to the defending champion Golden State Warriors.

However, before they get to Golden State, they have to get past the 76ers, who are posing as the biggest threats to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference.

Catch their renewed rivalry tip-off the 2018-19 NBA season tonight at 8 p.m. ET from the TD Garden.