Tag: Irving

Kyrie Irving says Mavericks change ‘starts with me’

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Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving heads toward the bench during the first half of Game 1 of the basketball team’s NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

DALLAS — The last 12 games where Kyrie Irving has played against the Boston Celtics have all ended with the same outcome.

His team lost.

It’s a streak that Irving and the Dallas Mavericks would desperately like to see end Wednesday night, when they play host to the Celtics in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Boston leads the series 2-0.

“First thing of that is just accepting that I haven’t played well or up to my standards, as well as I would have liked,” Irving said. “Being back in Boston, there’s such a level of desire that I have inside of me to play well. Wanted to be there for my teammates. As a competitor, it’s frustrating. But I don’t want to let that seep in or spill over to any other decisions I have to make there as a player.”

Irving shot only 35% in the first two games of these finals in Boston, averaging 14 points and four assists in his former home arena — where fans make clear that they don’t like him much. He’s shot 50% or less in each of his last 10 games against the Celtics.

READ: Kyrie Irving channeling 2016 as Mavericks plot NBA Finals rally

“I just can feel the stakes being raised up a little bit more,” Irving said. “The pressure is natural. Makes diamonds. … We just have to continue to lean in on each other, especially when it gets tough out there. We’re going against a great team. They’re not going to stop pressing us, stop their pace, stop testing us on both ends of the floor. We know what we’re in for. But now we have to raise it to an even higher level, and it starts with me.”

The odds

Dallas is a 2.5-point favorite in Game 3, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, and unless the line changes significantly it’ll mark a rare instance of Boston being an underdog this season.

Wednesday will be the Celtics’ 99th game of the year. They’ve been underdogs only three times in the first 98 — at Sacramento on Dec. 20 ( a 144-119 Boston win ), at Milwaukee on Jan. 11 ( a 135-102 Bucks win ) and at Milwaukee again on April 9 ( a 104-91 Bucks victory ).

Tatum watching

Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk said he’s rooting for the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals for an obvious reason — he went to school in St. Louis with Jayson Tatum.

And, as one might guess, Tatum is rooting for the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.

READ: Celtics control NBA Finals despite Jayson Tatum’s shooting woes

“I actually watched him win last night,” Tatum said Tuesday, referring to Florida’s 4-1 win over Edmonton that gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead in that title series. “Trying to learn and understand the rules in the game of hockey more and more. I got to watch the game last night. They won. Like I said, I’m extremely happy for him and his family. Hopefully they win it all.”

Closing in

Boston enters Game 3 of the NBA Finals with 1,582 makes from 3-point range this season, including playoffs.

That means the Celtics are 15 3s away from breaking the NBA’s full-season record. Boston connected on 1,596 shots from deep last season to set the mark.

Irving channeling 2016 as Mavs plot NBA Finals rally

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Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports)

DALLAS – Kyrie Irving is drawing from the experience of Cleveland’s 2016 NBA Finals comeback as he attempts to help dig the Dallas Mavericks out of an 0-2 hole against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.
The Mavericks host their first game of the NBA Finals on Wednesday, desperate for victory after dropping the opening two road games of the best-of-seven series in Boston last week.
For Irving, the situation is eerily familiar to his experience with the Cavaliers eight years ago, when Cleveland went 2-0 down to the dominant Golden State Warriors before rallying and eventually winning the series 4-3 with victory in game seven.
Irving, who famously shot the game-winning three-pointer in the series decider against the Warriors in 2016, sees parallels between his past and present.
“It took a lot of will to win in 2016,” Irving said.
“We had time to fail together. We had time to go through our trials together. We lost in 2015.
“A lot of guys came back in 2016 and we won. So there was an inner motivation there. We also knew who we were going against, how well they played.”
Instead of being daunted by the challenge posed by the top-seeded Celtics, Irving wants his teammates to view their situation as “an opportunity to respond.”
“That’s all you can ask for in a basketball season,” he said.
“If you asked me in September or October, would I want a chance to be down 0-2 and having a chance to respond in Game 3 or be out of the playoffs, I think I would choose the former. It’s as simple as that.
“We’re the only teams left. This is about chess. That’s all it is.”
If the Mavericks are to haul themselves off the canvas, Irving knows he will need a more productive game after misfiring so far.
In games one and two against Boston, Irving scored a mere 28 points and was 13-of-37 from the floor, and 0-of-8 from three-point range.
“First thing is just accepting that I haven’t played well or up to my standards, as well as I would have liked,” Irving said.
Irving also believes that the scorelines from the first two games of the series don’t do Dallas justice.
“The margin of their victories hasn’t really displayed the full story in terms of the Celtics beating us,” Irving said.
“We just have to continue to lean in on each other, especially when it gets tough out there. We’re going against a great team.
“We know what we’re in for. But now we have to raise it to an even higher level, and it starts with me.”
Dallas coach Jason Kidd, meanwhile, hopes the home support can emulate the raucous atmosphere he experienced as a player in 2011 as a member of the Mavericks last championship-winning team.
“This is an incredible atmosphere,” Kidd said. “To win that championship in 2011, the city is incredible. They love their Mavs.
“To win it then and now to be here in 2024 is special because you don’t really get an opportunity to do that.
“I understand the opportunity that I have to be the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. It’s a dream come true.
“But we’re trying right now to figure out how to win one game, and that’s the next one tomorrow night.”

Kyrie Irving has rough opener after boos in Boston

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Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving heads toward the bench during the first half of Game 1 of the basketball team’s NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

BOSTON — Kyrie Irving dribbled the ball off his foot, and the Boston fans erupted in cheers. He lost his footing on another turnover, and the crowd went wild.

Even just bringing the ball up the court drew boos from the locals, who haven’t forgiven Irving for opting out of his Celtics contract after the 2019 playoffs. If the Mavericks point guard was hoping to quiet the Boston fans with a big game in the opener of the NBA Finals, it didn’t quite go that way.

Irving scored 12 points on 6-for-19 shooting, missing all five 3-point attempts and turning the ball over three times as Boston beat Dallas 107-89 on Thursday night. Irving had two assists, and Dallas had just nine in all; only once has a team had fewer in the NBA Finals in the last 55 years.

READ: Kyrie Irving’s reflective side front and center in run to NBA Finals

It was Irving’s 11th straight loss to the Celtics.

“It’s not the first time I’ve lost in Boston. I don’t want to continue to make it a habit,” Irving said. “They have had my number a little bit.”

An eight-time All-Star who teamed with LeBron James to help Cleveland win the 2016 NBA title, Irving has since come to be known as much for outlandish opinions as anything he did on the court.

Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving NBA Finals Celtics vs Mavericks

Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving, center, and guard Luka Doncic, top left, watch from the bench as the Mavericks trail the Celtics during the second half of Game 1 of basketball’s NBA Finals on Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

He blew up his relationship with James when he left Cleveland, and then also left Boston on bad terms. Then the player who questioned whether the earth was round sidelined himself for home games in Brooklyn rather than get a COVID-19 vaccine.

But Irving has been a model teammate in Dallas, and has even admitted to some of his previous shortcomings.

Not that the Boston fans will ever let him forget it.

“Being in this environment, I’m used to it at this point,” Irving said. “Over the past few years in the playoffs here, regular season, it’s been the same thing. I thought I was going to be a little louder in here. But I’m expecting the same things. Going to Game 2, crowd trying to get me out of my element.”

Irving spent two seasons with the Celtics, missing the 2018 playoffs with an injury as Boston made it to the Eastern Conference finals. A healthy Irving the next year was supposed to set the stage for many years of long postseason runs.

But the Celtics lost in the second round the following year, and then Irving – who’d professed his love for the city – opted out of his contracts. His returns since then have been ugly: a fan threw a water bottle at him after a 2021 playoff game; a year later, he cursed at and gave the middle finger to the crowd, for which he was fined.

“It’s not the booing. It’s not the missed shots. It’s more or less just our attitude and how we approach it,” Irving said. “I haven’t had the best games offensively this playoff run. … Now it’s our turn to go through it together. And that’s what makes it exciting.”

READ: Porzingis returns, Celtics open NBA Finals with big win over Mavericks

Compared to previous visits, Thursday’s game was tame.

Irving was booed at introductions, and otherwise welcomed with a variety of vulgar chants. But most of the focus was on the game.

And that was the problem.

“I thought he had great looks that just didn’t go down,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “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. Tonight, they just didn’t go down for Kai or most of the team, and hopefully we get those same shots in Game 2 and we can be better.”

Boston opened a 29-point lead in the first half, only to see Dallas score the last seven points of the second quarter and then go on a 20-6 run early in the third. With a chance to make it a two-possession game, Dereck Lively II traveled, and then Irving did the same.

A missed 3-pointer and a pair of missed shots underneath by Irving helped Boston extend the lead back to 22 points, 86-64.

And the Mavericks were never in the game after that.

“We did cut it to eight and got the rebound and unfortunately came up with a travel,” Kidd said. “A lot of good things in that third and fourth that we can build on. That’s what we talked about after the game and that’s what we have to do.”