A Boston fan was charged with assault and battery for throwing a bottle at Kyrie Irving after playoff game
- The Brooklyn Nets handily defeated the Boston Celtics 141-126 on Sunday in Boston.
- Former Celtic and current Nets player Kyrie Irving said before the game that he hoped to keep it "strictly basketball" and without incident.
- A Celtics fan threw a water bottle at Irving after the game and now faces assault and battery charges.
A Boston Celtics fan was arrested and charged with 'assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon' after throwing a water bottle at Brooklyn Nets' star Kyrie Irving following a blowout Nets victory on Sunday.
Cole Buckley, 21, was arrested after the game on Sunday night for throwing the bottle and will be arraigned on Tuesday in Boston Municipal Court.
The Nets handily defeated the Celtics in Boston on Sunday night in 141-126 victory, but tensions in the building rose following the game after Irving, a former Celtics star, walked to center court to meet with some of his former teammates and appeared to stomp on the head of Boston's logo before leaving for the exit tunnel.
Days before the incident, Irving said he hoped that his return to Boston would not be marred by any controversy.
"Hopefully we can just keep it strictly basketball," Irving said. "There's no belligerence or racism going on, subtle racism, and people yelling s--- from the crowd.
Despite prior affirmations from current Boston players Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown about racism in the city, Irving's comments seemed to attract even more animosity and vitriol from Celtics fans and even the team's general manager, Danny Ainge, who said he had never heard of anything like that while working for the team.
"I never heard any of that, from any player that I've ever played with in my 26 years in Boston," Ainge said on 98.5 The Sports Hub.
In a post-game interview, Irving told reporters that fans learn from the punishment doled out and hopes it will lead to fewer incidents like this in the future.
"Hopefully people learn their lessons for being banned for however many years and being arrested," Irving said. A spokesperson for TD Garden said Buckley is "subject to a lifetime ban" from the arena.