Game 3 will be Kyrie Irving’s first time playing in front of fans in Boston since leaving as a free agent in 2019 following two seasons. Asked what he expected, he noted that it’s not his first time playing in Boston as an opponent.

“So I’m just looking forward to competing with my teammates and hopefully we can just keep it strictly basketball [and] there’s no belligerence or any racism going on, subtle racism and people yelling (stuff) from the crowd,” Irving said. “But even if it is, it’s part of the nature of the game and we’re just going to focus on what we can control.”

Asked if he had experienced that before, Irving said: “I’m not the only one that could attest to this, but it is what it is.”