‘I thought it was going to be a little louder:’ Kyrie Irving doesn’t sound worried after Mavericks’ Game 1 struggles
Irving finished Game 1 with just 12 points on 6 of 19 shooting.
As he entered the media room after the Mavericks’ Game 1 loss to the Celtics, one of his worst playoff performances in recent years, Kyrie Irving kept things light. He dribbled a basketball into the press conference and feigned like he was going to hand it to a media staffer before keeping hold of it, joking: “I need [the ball] right now. Didn’t shoot particularly well tonight.”
“Man, this is the best time of the year to be playing,” Irving said after Dallas fell, 107-89, to open the NBA Finals. “There’s two teams left, let’s put it in perspective. The environment’s going to be what it is, but my focus is on our game plan, making sure my guys feel confident and I feel confident and continue to shoot great shots.”
Irving finished with just 12 points on 6 of 19 shooting, missing all five 3-pointers he took. Irving heard loud boos every time he touched the ball and louder cheers on all 13 misses. It was his worst playoff shooting night (taking at least 10 shots) since his infamous final game as a Celtic, when he shot a paltry 6 of 21 in a blowout Game 5 loss to the Bucks in the second round of the 2019 postseason before bolting for Brooklyn.
“It’s basketball at the end of the day, Irving said. “Being in this environment, I’m used to it at this point. Early in my career, it was a different relationship that I had with Boston … Just experiencing the playoffs here, even the regular season, it’s been the same thing. I thought it was going to be a little louder in here.
“But I’m expecting the same things going into Game 2: crowd trying to get me out of my element, my teammates out of [their] element, but the energy’s got to be focused toward the game.”
While Dallas showed signs of life in the third quarter, cutting the Celtics’ 21-point halftime lead to just 8, Irving was nowhere. He was 2 of 9 (0 for 3 from deep) in the period, traveling, blowing one layup, and getting brutally swatted by Jaylen Brown on another, all in the midst of a 14-2 Boston run that placed control back in the Celtics’ hands for good.
“I thought [Irving] had great looks that just didn’t go down,” said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd. “He had some great looks at 3, he had some great looks in the paint, that’s just part of basketball. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t, and tonight they just didn’t go down. Hopefully we get those shots again in Game 2.”
Irving never got to the free-throw line and finished a game-worst minus-19 with more turnovers than assists. He’s now lost 10 consecutive games against the Celtics, with his last victory coming in the 2021 playoffs while he was with the Nets.
“Yeah, it’s not the first time I’ve lost in Boston. I don’t want to continue to make it a habit … but the past few teams I’ve been on, they have had my number a little bit. You have to give credit to a good team. They have been good the past three or four years. We want to show them respect but at the same time we want to bring our best game. We have to play four of our greatest games in order to win the series and in order to win the Finals.
“But in the meantime, we’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror and it starts with me as one of the leaders on the team, how can I be better and how can I be more poised in this environment. It’s not the booing and it’s not the missed shots. It’s more or less our attitude and how we approach [the game] possession by possession.”
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