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BOSTON – Just after his best performance of the 2018-1919 season, Boston Celtics All-Star playmaker Kyrie Irving praised a rather unlikely goal of helping him get on the right track: Tommy Heinsohn.
Irving said he took this challenge when Heinsohn had suggested twice, during NBC Sports shows in Boston, that he felt the season had started badly, which had contributed to his early start. uneven year.
Irving had 31 points, a high in the season, with 31 points, while the Celtics resisted the Detroit Pistons 108-105 Tuesday night at TD Garden. Irving entered Tuesday's game by shooting 39.1 percent on the field and 24.1 percent over the 3-point arc, but looked much more like his former player.
In a field interview with NBC Sports Boston, he quizzically asked if his new haircut had contributed to his offensive momentum. Irving instead referred to Heinsohn's recent criticisms.
It was unclear whether Heinsohn's analysis had angered Irving, but in the locker room he was exhibiting in the locker room after the match.
"It's always good when someone challenges you like that. Especially with the level of respect I have for past legends of the Celtics, "said Irving. "And for him to really identify that I'm one of the leaders of this team, the main [focal] point of this team, I had to be in better shape and challenge myself on both sides of the ground. I think it's been very clear to me.
"I've heard about it, probably a week ago, and it bothered me because it was the most honest thing anyone said about my playing style because I had to literally try to match the level I was playing in. Last year, but also I improved, so how do you do that? I really had to focus on my body and how I take it. care of my mind.
"It was one of the most real things I could have heard, as a competitor, if you do not mind, you itch, you want to be better, especially when a guy – Tommy Heinsohn, you can not not to hurt his eyes if you are a Celtic.You can not do all false. And I appreciate that. And that was the truth. "
Although he spent the summer rehabilitating the two knee procedures that ended his 2017-18 season in March, Irving apparently arrived to camp in top form, looking lean and strong in the small glimpses that the journalists saw at the beginning of the camp.
But while Irving was struggling to find his offensive pace, Heinsohn had wondered twice in NBC Sports Boston's post-game series if Irving was in bad shape.
"Personally, I think he's a little in bad shape, for me, it looks like he's a little overweight, and for me – his timing, his speed – he's maybe a little slower than it has been, "said Heinsohn after Boston's victory in New York on Oct. 20. "With a whim last year, he was able to make himself heard by three people.I do not think he still has that speed, but he will come.
A week later, Heinsohn doubled his claim.
"He is recovering from an injury.For me, he looks like he has 5 extra pounds, but I have not seen him on the scale," Heinsohn said afterwards. Boston's victory at Detroit on Saturday. He then added, "It's only half-a slow step."
Irving said these comments had only encouraged him to improve his conditioning.
"I had to be in better shape and I had to focus more on what I was doing, but more emphasis," says Irving. "So I took it – I was on the bike the next morning, Versaclimb, I was doing everything I could to get my body ready for the rest of the season. It's a long season, I just wanted to get ready, but I shouted because it was the truth, I needed it.
Irving basically gave Tommy a Tommy Point.
Irving was asked if he would try to play the 82 games of the season, but admitted that he would likely miss a future game against Utah Jazz to attend a commemorative ceremony for his grandfather. Father. But he admitted that trying to play in as many games as possible was one of his goals.
And he is clearly putting himself in a shape that will allow him to stay on the field this season.
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