Kyrie Irving Discusses Playing 1st Game in Boston Since Leaving Celtics for Nets

In his first regular season game back in Boston since leaving the Celtics, Brooklyn Nets point guard completely torched his former teammates for 37 points, eight assists and six rebounds in a 123-95 victory at TD Garden. 

Once the final buzzer sounded, however, there was nothing but love between Irving and the Celtics and the guard spent plenty of time catching up with the players he left behind when he joined the Nets last year. 

"I went to war with those guys," Irving told Ariel Helwani on the ESPN postgame. "Those young guys down there—I've got to stop calling them young guys, they're growing so beautifully and I want them to continue to get better. And we're going to continue to lean on each other as brothers off the floor." 

Irving left the Celtics after two seasons, the latter of which saw Boston's young core fall in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Milwaukee Bucks in five games. 

Yet the run was still particularly successful for Irving. He was named an All-Star in both seasons as a Celtic and averaged 24.1 points, 6.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds per night over 127 games. 

That led the Duke product to sign a four-year, $136.5 million deal in Brooklyn. An injury-plagued 2019-20 campaign limited Irving to just 20 games and robbed him of a return to TD Garden to face his former franchise. The guard's second year in Brooklyn has already righted that wrong. 

Irving got to take in a game against the Celtics during the preseason and seemed to have no trouble rediscovering his rhythm at TD Garden. The former No. 1 overall pick shined with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists before catching fire on Friday in a regular-season contest. 

The 37 Irving dropped are the most for any Nets player on Christmas in franchise history, besting Micheal Ray Richardson's 36 points against the New York Knicks on Christmas in 1984.

Which goes back to the heart of Irving's comments after the game. As much as he wants to see his former teammates succeed, he's not going to let it stop him from playing his best against Boston.

"On the floor," Irving said, "We're going to continue to compete."