Kyrie Irving’s postseason shooting woes have been well documented and not something he’s been exactly pleased to talk about after games. He’s been dreadful for the Celtics in his first postseason that he’s been able to play, as he was injured last year. Making things even more complicated with the star point guard is that nobody knows if his time with the Boston Celtics will come to an end this summer when he becomes a free agent. As for the Celtics, their season came to an ugly end with a 116-91 Game 5 loss to the Bucks. But here’s what we do know about Kyrie – he was not playing the way we’re used to seeing him play and nothing summed that up more than this absolutely terrible air ball that he shot in the second quarter Wednesday night. Because it was that bad: It was another bad first half for him: Kyrie after going 7-22 in Game 4: "I should have shot 30" Kyrie in Game 5: 5-16 FG in the 1st half pic.twitter.com/6pzLZefXoM — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 9, 2019 The Bucks lead the Celtics 52-39 at the half. Kyrie Irving has 11 missed field goals, his most entering halftime in his career. The Celtics were also 0-3 shooting directly off his passes in the half. pic.twitter.com/A33RnBlcGQ — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 9, 2019 Twitter went off on him: Kyrie Irving's poor defensive effort and awful shot selection shows how much he meant it when he said, "Who cares?" — Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) May 9, 2019 Kyrie ain’t even gonna go back to Boston. Just gonna stay in the brick mansion he’s building in Milwaukee until free agency — Dad (@fivefifths) May 9, 2019 Is Kyrie joining the Knicks at halftime? — Jim Rome (@jimrome) May 9, 2019 If Kyrie gets hot, he can finish 8/22 from the field — Zach Harper (@talkhoops) May 9, 2019 Hey, cheer up, Kyrie. The world will keep spinning tomorrow. Oh. Crap. — SportsPickle (@sportspickle) May 9, 2019 if Kyrie rips his jersey off in the tunnel LeBron 2010 style free agency starts tonight — Kyrie Wobving (@WorldWideWob) May 9, 2019 Kyrie during the half time speech pic.twitter.com/8wRGrRVTA4 — Lord Henley Second of His Name (@sipin_on_HENny) May 9, 2019 How Kyrie is spending his halftime 🧳 pic.twitter.com/nkvYu7oPci — Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) May 9, 2019<doc-sep>Kyrie Irving had one miserable performance in the Boston Celtics' go-home game. As the Celtics were eliminated from the 2019 NBA playoffs following a 116-91 defeat at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks, Irving went out swinging -- but he did so without hitting anything. The 27-year-old point guard went 6-for-21 from the field and 1-of-7 from 3-point range as he ended up with 15 points in a Game 5 performance that will be remembered for all of the wrong reasons. Of course, Irving's performance followed a Game 4 stat line in which he posted 23 points on an almost identical 7-of-22 shooting from the field and 1-of-7 from 3-point range. He had stated after that game that he actually should not have shot 22 times -- he should have shot it 30 times. So if you were waiting for any memorable post-game quotes from Irving after Game 5, they're here. Irving is clearly more humbled than he was following Game 4, but he does make sure to stress that it's about "moving on" after a loss like this. For those that don't remember, Irving gave this infamous quote following his horrid Game 4 performance, via the Boston Herald. "I'm trying to do it all. For me, the 22 shots, I should have shot 30. I'm that great of a shooter." "When the ball doesn't go in the rim, the energy of the basketball can translate into the other end as well. That's just basketball 101," he said. "That's a choice that we have to make. And just being more communicative. It's a natural thing as an individual when your shots aren't going in to be thinking about that shot as you go down in a defensive position. It can take you out mentally what the other team is running, especially in the playoffs where possessions are magnified unbelievably. It's been a consistent thing for us that we haven't made shots and the defensive end of the floor has taken lapses. But it just can't happen going forward. We have no choice. At this point it's do or die." It wasn't just Games 4 and 5 that Irving underwhelmed -- he did it in all four of the Celtics' losses in this series. From Games 2 through 5, the veteran point guard converted on just 25-of-85 field-goal attempts (30.1 percent) and 7-of-32 shooting from 3-point range (21.8 percent). Considering Irving will be a free agent this summer and the speculation that he could be on his way out -- whether that be the Brooklyn Nets or New York Knicks -- it wouldn't come as any surprise if Irving elected for a new start outside of Boston. With the Celtics' and Irving's 2018-19 season officially over, let the speculation run rampant regarding where the All-Star point guard will sign this offseason.<doc-sep>
Kyrie Irving has run out of chances to curb his shooting skid in the 2019 NBA playoffs. The Boston Celtics were bounced from the postseason Wednesday night when they fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 of their second-round series. The fact that Boston was eliminated by the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded team isn’t a shocker by any means, but what did come as a surprise was how poor Irving was on the offensive end. After dropping 26 points on 12-for-21 shooting in the Celtics’ Game 1 win, Irving converted on just 30 percent of his shot attempts over the series’ final four games. The star point guard couldn’t have been more confident after Game 3 that he’d turn things around, but the misses continued to mount. If you can’t remember the last time a Celtics player struggled so mightily from the floor in the playoffs, that certainly makes sense. Kyrie Irving is the first Celtics player to take at least 15 shots and shoot less than 40 percent in 4 straight playoff games since Sam Jones in 1966. h/t @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/78CgyBl59h — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 9, 2019 Unlike Irving’s, Jones’ tough stretch occurred in the midst of a Boston playoff run that ended with a championship. Following his four-game slide, the Hall of Famer shot 44 percent from the field over the final six games of the Celtics’ NBA Finals triumph against the Los Angeles Lakers. Boston’s struggles against Milwaukee went well beyond Irving, but his undeniably were the most glaring. And with his future very much uncertain, those nightmarish performances could end up serving as his final games in a Celtics uniform. Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images