By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
Time — not Earth — is a flat circle. And it will lead Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving back in Boston just in time to ruin Christmas, as the Nets will reportedly square off with the Celtics as part of the league’s Dec. 25 schedule, according to an ESPN schedule leak.
ESPN leaks its Christmas schedule:
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) December 2, 2020
Pelicans at Heat
Warriors at Bucks
Nets at Celtics
Mavericks at Lakers
Clippers at Nuggets
(Honestly, with lockdowns back in style thanks to the second wave of coronavirus spikes around the United States, you gotta appreciate the league and its TV partner deciding that a surely fake-deep Irving postgame press conference is the only appropriate substitution for the absurdity known as the fifth hour of your family’s Christmas.)
Ditching the Celtics for Brooklyn in 2019 after famously stating his commitment to a long-term future with Boston just nine months prior, it’s obviously worth noting that we’ve still yet to get that Irving vs. Boston contest.
Kyrie, of course, opted out of last year’s game due to a shoulder injury, and later underwent season-ending surgery.
That decision didn’t stop Celtics fans from making their feelings on Kyrie known during that contest, with deafening ‘Kyrie Sucks’ chants echoing throughout the arena, which prompted a nonsensical Instagram rant from the ex-Celtic.
Fortunately for Irving, a bad liar and one of the greatest conmen in Boston sports history, there’s a good chance that he will not face the wrath of an otherwise-rowdy Garden crowd, as it feels fair to expect the Celtics to begin their season without fans in attendance.
While not outright confirmed as of right now, Gillette Stadium is finishing the entire NFL and MLS seasons without fans in attendance at the advice of state government officials, and the Patriots have home games at Gillette Stadium scheduled through Week 17’s final against the Jets on Jan. 3, 2021. Hard to imagine that changing for the closed-air Garden.
And with a rapid-fire season schedule upon the NBA, and with a Dec. 22 start circled, it’s also unlikely that this will be the Celtics’ first game of the 2020-21 season. Though a head-to-head with Kyrie (and Kevin Durant) would be one hell of a start.
This is unless Kyrie has the same feelings on Christmas as he does Thanksgiving.
Sidelines Podcast
Ty Anderson and Matt Dolloff talked about the Celtics and much more in the newest episode of the Sidelines Podcast on Wednesday. Have a listen below.