Despite being out of his first playoff stint as a member of the Boston Celtics, All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving has watched enthusiastically as his teammates have conquered the first round and now boast a 1-0 lead over the favored Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Celtics were viewed as underdogs after missing their two main stars in Irving and Gordon Hayward. They also missed Marcus Smart for a significant amount of time as he was recovering from thumb surgery.

Yet Boston was able to pull off a Game 7 win over the Milwaukee Bucks and have shown every bit of tenacity heading into this series against a talented Sixers team.

“We have a bunch of young guys on our team, but the way they are playing right now, they're playing like experienced veterans,” Irving said, according to ESPN's Chris Forsberg. “I feel like, throughout the season, we've done a great job of helping one another, and now they've taken the team full-force and doing what they're doing. So I'm just nothing but proud of them, as well as Brad Stevens and the coaching staff.”

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The likes of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Terry Rozier have stepped up to the plate under the leadership of Irving and other veterans like Marcus Morris and Al Horford.

“I'm not so much separated in age; I'm more separated in my years of experience,” The 26-year-old 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.”

The Celtics will look to defend home court once again in this postseason, seeking a 2-0 lead over the Sixers tonight at the TD Garden.