BOSTON — The Boston Celtics had no way of knowing how much they would get out of Kyrie Irving in the upcoming playoffs.
Now they know.
Nothing.
News broke midday Thursday that Irving will undergo another procedure on his left knee Saturday
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“The hardest thing to do sometimes is accept the uncontrollable things life throws at you,” Irving said in a statement on Instagram. “You try consistently to learn, grow, and prepare every day to equip your mind, body, and spirit with tools to deal with some of those things. …
” … This season was only a snapshot of what’s to come from me. Trust Me. “The journey back to the top of Mt. Everest continues.”
The Celtics host the Chicago Bulls on Friday night in what is close to a meaningless game. The Toronto Raptors have a magic number of one to clinch the best record in the Eastern Conference after beating the Celtics on Wednesday night in Toronto. The Bulls will be watching the playoffs on television.
Irving will need 4-to-5 months of recovery.
This procedure comes after a first surgery done March 24 to remove a wire from the knee.
“In this case,” Irving said on Instagram
Cheap Saquon Barkley Jersey , “finding out I have an infection in my knee is definitely a moment that I now accept and move past without holding on to the (sic) all the what ifs, proving the nay-Sayers (sic) completely (expletive) wrong, and accomplishing the goals I’ve set out for the team and myself.”
The Celtics reportedly signed guard Jonathan Gibson on Thursday to fill out the roster for the final four regular-season games, but he is not likely to be eligible for the playoffs.
Irving joins Gordon Hayward and rookie Daniel Theis with season-ending injuries.
In the second spot in the conference, the Celtics, who will see the Raptors clinch with a Toronto win or Boston loss, will face the Miami Heat
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Irving, also on Instagram, said, “Let’s go Celtics!! Celtics fans, I look forward to hearing how loud it gets in the TD Garden during the playoffs and experiencing how intense the environment gets. Thank you all!”
The Bulls (27-51) have followed a seven-game losing streak with three straight wins.
“We’re going out there and try to win every game,” rookie Lauri Markkanen said after his 24 points helped the Bulls to a win over Charlotte on Tuesday night. “I hope we can keep this thing going.”
Markkanen’s comments were in response to a suggestion his team is hurting its draft position by winning these games.
They held on for the win over Charlotte with coach Fred Hoiberg sitting Markkanen and other regulars in the fourth quarter — a tanking decision that didn’t work out.
“You want your guys to go out and compete at the highest level and we’re doing that across the board right now,” Hoiberg said. “We’ve got so many young guys and they’re still learning their way in this league. They want to compete.”
The Celtics (53-25) lost the opener of the season series with the Bulls 108-85 on Dec. 11 in Chicago but have won the last two. None of the three meetings have been decided by fewer than 16 points.
Jonathan Lucroy flied out in his first chance at getting the winning hit. The next time up
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Lucroy hit an RBI single off the center-field wall with the bases loaded in the 11th inning and the Athletics capped their comeback Sunday with a 6-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
”They stacked the left side up, so you don’t want to roll into a double play right there,” Lucroy said. ”I was trying to stay inside the ball and hit it somewhere up the middle or the other way.”
The A’s rallied for two runs in the ninth to tie it at 5, an inning that ended when Lucroy hit a flyball with runners on first and second.
Jed Lowrie led off the 11th with a single and Jake Jewell (0-1) hit Khris Davis with a pitch. After Matt Olson flied out, Eduardo Paredes replaced Jewell and walked Mark Canha to load the bases.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia brought left fielder Justin Upton in for a five-man infield but it didn’t matter. Lucroy hit a deep drive to win it.
”We had a couple guys coming out of the bullpen just brought too many walks with them and hit batters,” Scioscia said. ”We put too many guys on base from the ninth inning on and those guys got it done.”
Canha hit an early two-run homer, and added a tying single with two outs in the ninth. Marcus Semien homered to begin the Oakland ninth.
Blake Treinen (4-1) got the win.
Angels slugger Albert Pujols hit his 625th career home run
It was another blown save for Scioscia’s bullpen
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Blake Parker gave up two runs in the ninth. He also had a blown save Wednesday in Seattle. Canha’s tying single came off Cam Bedrosian.
”We made them work early on and they picked us up every single time,” Angels starter Andrew Heaney said. ”They may be struggling now and some guys are having their issues and that’s part of baseball.”
Chris Young homered and Mike Trout reached base five times for the Angels.
Pujols’ drive off Daniel Mengden was his fourth this month and 11th overall this season. It also moved the Angels’ 38-year-old slugger within five home runs of tying Ken Griffey Jr. for sixth place all time.
Pujols also had an RBI single in the third.
Trout had homered in four of his previous six games. He had singles in the fifth and ninth, walked twice and was hit by a pitch.
NICE BUT NOTHING TO SHOW
Heaney allowed Canha’s home run in the second and a sacrifice fly to Olson in the seventh. Beyond that, the left-hander was stellar with eight strikeouts in eight innings. ”One mistake to Canha that was a changeup down the heart of the plate,” Scioscia said. ”Outside of that he was dotting that outside corner, moving the ball in and changing speeds with his breaking ball all day.”
LOSING CONTROL
Mengden has issued 10 walks in his three June starts. He had only eight in his first 12 starts.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: 3B Matt Chapman (right thumb contusion) added throwing to his regimen, one day before his scheduled visit with a hand specialist in Los Angeles. Chapman’s biggest hurdle remains swinging a bat. … LHP Brett Anderson (strained left shoulder) is headed for Arizona to pitch in extended spring training.
UP NEXT
Angels: RHP Jaime Barria (5-2
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Athletics: RHP Paul Blackburn (1-1, 11.05 ERA) starts against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday to begin Oakland’s 10-game road trip.
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