Robb: Kyrie Irving again plays blame game after disastrous fourth quarter in loss to Hornets

Brad Stevens summed it up pretty well when dissecting the latest fourth-quarter collapse by the Celtics on Saturday night that resulted in a 124-117 loss to the Hornets.

“When you lose an 18-point lead, there’s a lot of things that go wrong,” he said. “We did everything the book is written on to lose a game when you are up 18...we all could have done better.”

It’s hard to argue with the head coach. The Celtics shot a horrific 2 of 19 from the field in the last eight minutes, watching as their 18-point advantage slowly crumbled in the midst of a 30-5 Hornets run to close out the game. The visitors took plenty of bad shots during the run, but they missed their fair share of open quality looks as well. Everyone had their gaffes during the collapse from Terry Rozier foolishly pulling up for a rushed 3-point attempt with 17 seconds remaining to Jayson Tatum getting repeatedly worked by Kemba Walker after defensive switches.

If you had listened to Kyrie Irving after the game, though, you never would have known he was responsible for a few of those gaffes himself, including a pair of critical ones in the closing minutes. Irving was sensational for the first three quarters (29 points) but scored just two points in the final frame on 1-of-5 shooting. He largely settled for long 3s while being guarded by Walker (a subpar defender) instead of taking it toward the rim repeatedly in crunch time (0-of-4 from 3-point range in fourth). Irving also turned the ball over in a 118-117 game with 43 seconds remaining after dribbling into Hornets rookie Miles Bridges in the backcourt.

Irving was by no means the main reason the Celtics lost. He was the best player on the floor for Boston tonight. Yet, after showing off an encouraging attitude shift over the past few weeks (even after losses) following the vaunted "plane ride," Irving slipped into his old destructive habits with his postgame comments on Saturday, playing the blame game with others instead of taking on any responsibility himself for the horrific defeat.

“This game was over in the beginning of the fourth quarter,” Irving told reporters, pointing to a section of the game he was not in. “We took our foot off the gas pedal. It got to a five-point game and the momentum shifted from there.”

Irving did, in fact, re-enter the game when the Celtics still had a 10-point lead with 5:51 remaining. The Celtics did not manage to score for three more minutes while Walker (16 fourth-quarter points) got red hot. Brad Stevens certainly deserves some second-guessing for how he managed this stretch. He benched Marcus Smart after a couple of offensive fouls in favor of Rozier. He failed to throw double teams at Walker despite the point guard making buckets from all over the court.

Those are all points that are worthy of discussion. Yet, Irving was almost eager to throw Stevens and his coaching staff under the bus when asked about Walker’s big night.

“We should have probably trapped him a little bit more like every other team does in the league, you know, but we didn’t,” Irving said. “He torches us every time we play them, so it's no surprise."

A very fair point by Irving, but also one that is best served to be given behind closed doors. For what it’s worth, Irving also fouled four times in the fourth quarter and gave Walker this much space in transition on a crucial possession down the stretch



(Walker hit the 3).

The Celtics were shorthanded for this one. A loss without the likes of Aron Baynes, Al Horford and Gordon Hayward would have been understandable in a vacuum. Yet, Irving still was on the floor with a bunch of experienced crunch time players (Morris, Tatum, Brown, Rozier) down the stretch. That group was fully capable of winning this game if they executed. Instead, they collectively got outplayed on both ends of the floor. They lost their poise on offense and got repeatedly burned on defense, which is not a surprise at this point for this group given the struggles over the past two months.

Irving was one of the players who did not execute, yet he seemed all too eager to pass the buck to a familiar target after the defeat.

“We have guys that were not in the lineup tonight,” he explained. “That would also help. Obviously, when we come out and play like this with a bunch of young guys down the stretch, figuring things out, things are bound to happen. It’s no excuses.”

It’s easy to understand Irving’s frustration after perhaps one of the ugliest losses in the NBA this year. Irving did more than his fair share for the first three quarters (final line: 31 points, seven rebounds, six assists). This kind of reaction from Irving, though, can only open up old wounds when referencing young guys. Not only was he not taking responsibility, he was pointing the finger at multiple people besides himself. He didn’t get the last shot down the stretch this time (Rozier took it selfishly with 17 seconds left) but he also blew his own chance on a previous possession with a turnover. Or the two 3s he missed before that. His failure to acknowledge those miscues or take any kind of responsibility is troubling.

The sad part about this for Stevens is this game probably meant nothing in the big picture. The Celtics are still just one game behind the Pacers and have two head-to-head meetings remaining. Horford, Baynes, and Hayward could all be playing as soon as Sunday night. Still, the Celtics managed to turn an inspiring undermanned effort for three quarters into an unmitigated disaster with Irving piling on the carnage afterward.

Accountability on and off the floor has been a big issue for this group all year long. If the team "leader" isn’t taking his fair share, it’s hard to see others following suit. Until Irving cuts this type of stuff out, it’s tough to envision this team pulling itself together for a deep postseason run. Pointing fingers hasn’t worked for this group all year long and that’s not going to change next month. If Irving wants to consider himself as a leader, it's about time he acts like it for more than a few weeks here or there.