Kyrie sends message to Celtics fans after Mavs’ Game 2 loss originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
Kyrie Irving just can’t help himself.
The Dallas Mavericks star insisted that he grew since stomping on the Boston Celtics logo and dismissing TD Garden fans in previous playoff games against his former team, and that he is more focused on playing basketball than going back and forth with a hostile crowd.
But there was Irving egging on the Garden crowd amidst a “Kyrie sucks!” corner in the first half, and giving the last word to Celtics fans as he left the court after Dallas 105-98 loss in Game 2 on Sunday which left the Mavs in a 2-0 series hole.
“See you in (Game) 5,” Irving appeared to tell the crowd as he held up five fingers, suggesting his team would win at least one of its next two games in Dallas to avoid the series sweep and set up a Game 5 return. at TD Garden next Monday.
Irving certainly isn’t the first player to make this play; Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards made a similar guarantee in Denver following Minnesota’s Game 5 loss to the Nuggets, then backed up his pitch by forcing (and eventually winning) a Game 7 on the road. Irving also has experience coming back from a 2-0 NBA Finals deficit when his Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors in seven games in 2016 after trailing 2-0 and 3-1 in the series.
If Irving wants to duplicate that result, however, he will need to level up considerably between whistles.
The eight-time All-Star has been terrible offensively through two games, averaging just 14 points (12 in Game 1 and 16 in Game 2) on 13-of-37 shooting. He was 0-for-8 from 3-point range in the series and scored minus-22 in 78 minutes of action.
Irving’s struggles against the Celtics are nothing new either: he’s now lost 12 consecutive games to Boston since March 6, 2022, when he was a member of the Brooklyn Nets. He is averaging just 19.7 points in those 12 games, while making just 41.1% of his field goals and 26.4% of his 3-point shots, including 0-fers in four of their last five postseason games against the Celtics.
Irving’s lack of production significantly hurt the Mavs, who haven’t had a player outside of Luka Doncic score more than 20 points in these Finals. Players not named Doncic made just 2 of 17 3-point shots in Game 2, as Dallas got virtually no production from Irving or his players.
Irving has been better at home these playoffs — he’s averaging 24.1 points and 5.3 assists in eight games in Dallas — so maybe he’ll come out of his funk in Games 3 and 4 without the Garden crowd at his throat. But if that’s the case and he gets his wish of returning to Boston for Game 5, another performance like Irving’s on Sunday could potentially end the Mavs’ season.
Game 3 is set for Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET, with NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics pregame live starting at 7pm ET.
