Kyrie Irving did not play in the second half of Boston's 99-97 loss to the Indiana Pacers due to left knee soreness. The All-Star point guard played 16 minutes in the first half, finishing with seven points, four rebounds and one steal.
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The former No. 1 overall pick sat out of last week's 105-89 win over Chicago to rest that same knee, which he broke during the 2015 NBA Finals as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He did return, however, to play in Boston's Friday victory over Minnesota.
Irving is averaging 24.7 points, 5.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds per contest while shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 40.8 percent on 3-pointers.
Kyrie Irving is planning to sit out likely at least the next couple of games: "I'm not concerned. Where we are in the season, I'm pretty comfortable. I think that competitively, I think that's more or less what I'm concerned about." [1/2]
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) March 12, 2018
Irving suffered similar soreness a week ago at Houston. Celtics coach Brad Stevens said after the game that this pain was similar but that Irving would undergo "whatever testing necessary."
#NEBHInjuryReport Coach Stevens says Kyrie told them he was having similar soreness as he did in the Houston game at halftime. Stevens believes it’s just general soreness but will do whatever testing necessary.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 12, 2018
After today's games, the Celtics trail the Toronto by 3.5 games for first place in the Eastern Conference.
