Are Irving and Smart's absences tonight vs. Nets coincidence or a test?

I find it a bit odd that not soon after I write about Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart as the two solid mainstays of the Celtics team, I read Tom Wade's article indicating both are out tonight against the Nets. Coincidence or message? Irving is out with a quad bruise, and Marcus is among the missing due to illness - his first missed game all season.

In this morning's article, I wrote the following about the starting backcourt for Boston:

I have no issues with the starting backcourt of Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart. What the Hell more can we ask of Kyrie? He is clearly frustrated. Smart? He sits at the 18th ranking in Real Plus Minus for the entire League. For certain games, I focus mainly on his…