When the conversation at the Fours, a longtime sports bar across the street from the Fleet Center, turned from the Red Sox and the Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan to Nets Coach Byron Scott, it brought as much curiosity as rage.

Scott, interviewed on WFAN radio on Wednesday, criticized Boston fans, saying some were drunk when they created a hostile environment. He also said that racism could have been an element.

"Why would he say it when they were coming here?" said Damian Dowling, a bartender. "Why not save it for the bus ride back when you're waving goodbye? Knowing what they did to Kidd last year, the only thing we could think of was that he wanted to maybe deflect the attention from Kidd."