Marcus Smart said held no ill will against Kyrie Irving, and was tired of the narratives surrounding Irving and the Boston Celtics. The two players embraced following the Nets' 112-107 win over the Celtics in Brooklyn.

"I mean, there is no hard feelings. I didn't hug Kyrie to get on TV. ... That's my brother, regardless of what he did," said Smart.

Smart added that it was disrespectful to his teammates to continue talking about Irving.

"Quite frankly, I'm really, honestly, tired of hearing about Kyrie. Kyrie is no longer with the Boston Celtics, and it's a slap across the face of everybody on this team that's here now to keep hearing Kyrie's name, because every one of these guys have put in the work and we continue to put in the work," he added.

Jayson Tatum echoed Smart's statement that people needed to move on.

"I mean, it's nothing to really talk about, you know? I know there's been some stuff between the fans and him. Hopefully that can be over. We need to just move past it at this point. It's over. He's here in Brooklyn, and I'm here now in Boston."

Several sources have indicated that the departure of Kyrie Irving and arrival of Kemba Walker has helped fill the atmosphere of the team.

“Night and day,” said one team source.

“You can feel it at all times,” said another source.

One source began telling Jay King of The Athletic in March that Irving and Kevin Durant had already decided to sign with the Brooklyn Nets.

“It never helps when someone doesn’t want to be there,” said a Boston source.

Kemba Walker could his make Boston Celtics return on Wednesday night against the Brooklyn Nets.

Walker was stretched off the court over the weekend after colliding with Semi Ojeleye against the Nuggets.

Walker, who missed Monday's game against the Kings, is averaging 21.1 points and 4.7 assists this season.

Tim Bontemps of ESPN recently conducted a straw pool of seven executives asking whether Kyrie Irving or Kemba Walker is the more talented player with all seven choosing Irving.

But six of those same seven executives said they would rather have Walker if they had to choose.

The Boston Celtics replaced Irving with Walker this past offseason. Walker is widely considered an easier personality for teammates and coaches to get along with than Irving.

"For me, it's just the nature of this sport, like a team sport," Walker said. "You don't want nobody to be unhappy. You want everybody to play with joy, play with freedom and have fun."

In a candid interview with Rachel Nichols of ESPN, Danny Ainge took responsibility for the issues that plagued the 18-19 season, particularly with Kyrie Irving and the issues Brad Stevens had managing their depth.

"Kyrie for his first year and a half was terrific for us, and I was hopeful that it was going to be a good marriage going forward," said Ainge. "But he really wanted to go home, and that's his choice, and I don't know why he gets all the blame. I mean, I'm the one who should be blamed for last year. We put a team together that just didn't have pieces that fit. We had a lot of talent, a lot of expectations. It's certainly not Kyrie's fault."

Nichols asked if Ainge believed it was his fault.

"I do think it was my fault. I think there's some things I wish I did different. In hindsight, we should have cleaned out the roster a little bit to make it easier for Brad. We had a deep roster. We were built for a longer run. We had a lot of guys that had a lot of success without Gordon (Hayward) and Kyrie, and the guys that had success without those two guys felt like it was their time for the spotlight. It just didn't mesh."

Gordon Hayward is out with a broken hand, but he was able to continue playing video games after the injury.

Hayward said playing video games has actually served as rehab to keep his fingers moving.

Hayward had the surgery on Nov. 12th and is expected to miss six weeks.

Kemba Walker is doubtful to return for the Boston Celtics' Monday night game against the Sacramento Kings due to a neck sprain.

Walker suffered the injury on Friday night in a collision with Semi Ojeleye.

Walker was diagnosed with concussion-like symptoms, then released from a Boston hospital on the same night.

Kemba Walker was diagnosed with concussion-like symptoms after being stretchered off the court during the Boston Celtics' game against the Denver Nuggets.

Walker collided with teammate Semi Ojeleye.

Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Walker likely did not suffer a major injury.

Marcus Smart sprained his right ankle in the 4th quarter of the Boston Celtics' 99-85 win over the Phoenix Suns.

Smart will be re-evaluated on Tuesday.

Smart said he should be available for the rest of the Celtics road trip.

"It just irritated the exact same ankle I was coming back from in the same spot. But everything's fine. I should be fine to play the rest of the trip," said Smart.

Gordon Hayward underwent surgery to repair the fourth metacarpal fracture in his left hand.

Hayward will miss at least six weeks.

Hayward is in his third season with the Boston Celtics.