Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving was certain his first shot of the 2018-19 season, a step back 18-footer less than four minutes into the game against the Philadelphia 76ers, was money.
He was mildly surprised when it rolled off, but no matter. Thirty-eight seconds after that, he launched a 3-pointer that he was convinced was going drop too.
It didn’t. In the first half of the NBA’s season opener at the TD Garden, Irving took 8 shots — and missed all of them.
This has happened only one other time in his career: On December 6, 2013 against the Atlanta Hawks as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“Yeah,” Irving told ESPN, “that was the game when (former Cavs coach) Mike Brown took me out after I missed (my 9th shot) in the second half and didn’t play me again. I remember it well.”
Celtics coach Brad Stevens did no such thing. He continued to play both Irving and his backcourt mate Gordon Hayward, who was playing in his first game back since a gruesome injury in Game 1 of 2017-18 derailed his entire season.
Even as the two stars combined for 2-for-12 shooting from behind the three-point line, the Celtics rolled to a 105-87 win over its division rival.
Expectations were that Hayward would be rusty, and perhaps even a little timid returning to the floor after such a traumatic injury. Less discussed was the long layoff that Irving also experienced following a pair of knee surgeries that prematurely ended his season last March.
“Everyone’s been talking about Gordon being out for 12 months, but Kyrie has been out six,” noted Stevens.
Irving said he felt great throughout the game, and considered each shot he took a good one.
“I think any shot I’m taking is a great shot — unless it’s doubled contested or Embiid is meeting me at the rim,” he laughed. “At the same time, I’ve been so hyped up to play…but you gotta just keep shooting.”
Hayward showed a hint of hesitation on the first possession of the game, when he caught the ball in the corner and had a brief open look at the basket. Hayward sized up his defender, Ben Simmons, prepared to shoot, then thought better of it.
Later in the quarter, he ventured in the paint for a reverse lay-up with Joel Embiid in pursuit and came up short.
“My adrenaline was definitely bumping those first three or four minutes,” Hayward said.
Hayward admitted he did think about the devastating injury from last season, which left him writhing in pain, his ankle grotesquely dislocated.
“It definitely crossed my mind, especially warming up and running out through the tunnel,” Hayward said. “Just thought about maybe not doing any back door plays this game.
“It (the injury) was a major part of my life at this point in time, so I just tried to get that out of my head as soon as I started playing. And, once you’re out there on the court, some of that disappears.”
A glimpse of the vintage Utah Jazz Hayward emerged early in the second quarter, when he hit back-to-back jumpers, the second over the outstretched arms of 7-footer Joel Embiid. He finished with 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting in 25 minutes. He added 5 rebounds and played completely turnover free.
Irving checked out with 7 points on 2-of-14 shooting and a team-high 7 assists.
“There’s a difference between going 0-for-8 at the half and never shooting again and going 2-for-14,” Irving said. “I’m perfectly fine with that. Brad was encouraging me, my teammates were encouraging me.”
Told it might take a little time for both Hayward and him to find their footing together, Irving smiled.
“It won’t take as much time as you think,” he retorted. “We’ve been playing great together for a couple of months now.”