Kyrie Irving ready for regular season to be over, expects Celtics to play at 'the highest level' come playoffs

Irving sounds off after Boston's fourth straight loss since the All-Star break

The Boston Celtics were billed as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, but the regular season has been filled with inconsistencies.

Following the All-Star break, the Celtics have dropped four consecutive games, with the most recent loss coming against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday. After the game, star guard Kyrie Irving sounded off on the team's struggles and admitted that he "can't wait" for the regular season to be over, so that the team can be playing "at the highest level."

"I can't wait for all this other B.S. about the regular season, keep getting better, talking over and over and over again about what we can do to keep getting better playing in the regular season," Irving said. "I just want to be at the highest level playing."

The Trail Blazers defeated the Celtics in a 97-92 decision despite Irving playing a very efficient game. The Celtics star finished with 31 points on 14-of-24 shooting while also grabbing five rebounds and dishing out three assists. This performance comes after Irving scored just seven points in the team's previous outing against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday -- a 118-95 blowout loss.

Irving also went on to compare the Celtics to the 2017 Cleveland Cavaliers team that ended up advancing to the NBA Finals despite struggling at times. 

"We lose a bunch of games in a row and we end up sweeping the whole Eastern Conference. I don't think anybody in the Eastern Conference can really compete with us at a high level when we're playing the way we're supposed to be playing."

The Celtics, back in action on Friday against the Wizards (8 p.m. ET -- watch on fuboTV with the NBA League Pass extension), have a boatload of talent and that's never been a topic that's been up for debate. It was clear just how deep Boston's roster was last year when the Celtics came within just one game of reaching the NBA Finals despite not having Irving and Gordon Hayward for a single play throughout the postseason. Players like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier rose to the occasion and helped carry the offensive load in the absence of Irving and Hayward.

Boston does currently sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings, but they're only three games out of being the 3 seed. If the Celtics are able to rise in the standings down the stretch, it's very likely that they'll get a much easier matchup in the opening round of the playoffs.