On April 18, Beijing time, the Brooklyn Nets lost to the Boston Celtics 114-115. In an interview with the media after the game, Owen spoke about the vicious vocabulary used by home fans to themselves.
Owen said: "I give back to the fans the energy that some of the fans have given me, not every fan likes it, I hear some vulgar words, but I don't think there is any hostility here.".
At the same time, speaking about the loss of this game, Irving said: "In the Celtics' home game, it is not safe to lead by 4 points in the last 45 seconds".
In this campaign, Irving's performance in the game was extremely outstanding, he played 42 minutes, 12 of 20 shooting, 6 of 10 three-pointers, and scored 39 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.
O'Neal also commented on all that Owen suffered at home to the Celtics: "The great Bill Russell went through this, I want to go through this, I don't want to hear about these things anymore. The fans in Boston will be stepping up in the second game, and only the best players will have that treatment."
As a result, Barkley also responded: "Most of the fans are very good, but some of them will say rude things, today's players, please stop complaining like a child".