ORLANDO — Kyrie Irving is not content with the notion of the Boston Celtics simply playing their best basketball by the time the postseason arrives.
As part of his postgame musings following Boston’s disappointing 105-103 loss to the Orlando Magic on Saturday night, Irving said he’s not happy that Boston sits fifth in the Eastern Conference and wants the team to fight for premium seeding in the second half of the season.
This came after he offered firm words for Boston’s younger players, demanding they bring the same sustained intensity as Boston’s veterans given the team’s lofty goals this season.
"I think that what we’re facing now is nothing compared to being on that stage trying to get a gold trophy,” Irving said, referencing the Larry O’Brien trophy. "It’s hard now, what do you think it’s going to be when we get to the Finals? Let alone, s---, we’re trying to play a position right now trying to get a great seed.
"That should be our No. 1 goal, and that right there is a realization for me that, even when I’m thinking about the future, I gotta think about how do we get there. But what steps do we need to hit? That’s a goal first, just getting a seed. We can’t be comfortable being in fifth.”
A 10-10 start to the season has left Boston parked in the fifth spot in the East for much of the season. A four-game win streak to start the new calendar year put Boston in position to start a surge but back-to-back losses in Florida to start this road trip made the team pump the brakes.
With a head-to-head matchup looming next week, Boston sits 6 games back of the conference-leading Toronto Raptors. Boston is also 4.5 games back of Milwaukee, 3 games back of Indiana, and 1.5 games back of Philadelphia.
Standings projections have typically given the Celtics a good chance to climb as high as 3 in the East but the Pacers’ sustained success could leave Boston fighting to get ahead of them. And, if the 76ers beef up their depth and shooting via trade or buyout, that only makes them a bit more dangerous.
Irving seems to recognize that it’s simply not good enough for Boston to hope to be playing its best basketball by the time the playoffs arrive.
"I’m not comfortable in [the fifth seed] so now I go back and really rework things and try to think about how I attack the next day,” said Irving. “But the frustration [of Saturday’s loss] is still inside of me."
Later Irving added: "We’ve got one more game on this road trip, it’s always good to go home for me and I’m always good to see my family. I know guys will enjoy New York as well, it’ll be good to just play in that type of environment. Orlando deserved this win, they earned it, a few loose balls we could have gotten, you know, 50/50 basketballs. But that happens.
"Things that we can control we can get better at.”
The Celtics have to get better at those things or they’ll be settling for the less-than-ideal seeding that Irving does not desire.
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