Mazz: Kyrie Irving, Nets pummeling Boston on and off the court

Long before Kyrie Irving spoke, I’m willing to bet we all had the same feeling: Can we just end this thing? Like … now? Can the Celtics just concede the final two games of this series and spare themselves the indignity of facing a Brooklyn Nets team with whom they currently have no right to share a space?

In case you somehow missed it, the Celtics were liquefied by the Nets last night, 130-102, in Game 2 of the team’s Eastern Conference “playoff” series. The game was never close. The Nets scored 40 points in the first quarter and led by as many as 33, and Celtics forward Jayson Tatum left the game after being poked in the eye and did not return.

Talk about symbolism.

Oh, did we mention Tatum was a team-worst minus-28?

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  But this isn’t really about Tatum, at least in the short term. It’s about a wretched Celtics season that has been stripped of all hope and, now, dignity against a Brooklyn team that has one of the most explosive offensive trios of all-time. And now it’s about Irving, who completely changed the narrative of the series when he warned TD Garden attendees against “belligerence or subtle racism” when he comes to Boston for Game 3 on Friday.
  
  Look, there’s a lot to unpack there – particularly at a tumultuous time in modern American history. Irving isn’t likable. He’s a remarkably talented basketball player whom some of us (ahem) would still take back in a minute. The Celtics look like a complete laughingstock at the moment and Irving and the Nets are pummeling Boston on and off the court.
  
  Now, before we get into the entanglement of Irving’s comments, let’s make this much indisputably clear: the Celtics should be worried about this on multiple levels. With or without Jaylen Brown, they have grossly underachieved as a basketball team. And whether Bostonians want to believe Irving’s comments or not, whether they like him or loathe him, know this: he has tremendous influence in the league overall and seems to have a strong relationship with Tatum, in particular. If Irving’s comments are at all a reflection of how Jayson Tatum similarly feels, well, the Celtics need to get to the bottom of it and seriously decide whether they need to trade Tatum – and/or Jaylen Brown – now.

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  At the start of last night, the Celtics getting walloped by the Nets in Game was entirely about basketball and the `20-21 season. After the indignity of the defeat, it became about a whole lot more. The Celtics now have some very deep and serious questions to ask – some uncomfortable discussions to broach – and they need honest and open communication with Tatum, Brown and anyone else they consider to be a fundamental part of their future.
  
  Last night, after all, Kyrie Irving and the Nets did more than make a laughingstock of the what was already a dreadful `20-21 season.
  
  What they did, really, was cast the future of the whole darned thing into even greater doubt.

You can hear Tony Massarotti weekdays from 2-6 p.m. EST on the Felger & Massarotti program. Follow him on Twitter @TonyMassarotti.