Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving entered TD Garden for the first two games of the NBA Finals with an opportunity to steal a home game from the Boston Celtics and silence their crowd. As Irving walked off the court down two games in the series, he evidently decided to get into it with the home fans.
Irving, who played in Boston from 2017-’19, is not well-liked by the fan base. From doing a sage burning at TD Garden in 2020 to backing out on his promise to re-sign with the team, the All-Star guard has provided fans with plenty of fuel to dislike him.
- Kyrie Irving stats vs Boston Celtics: 14.0 PPG, 4.0 APG, 35.1% FG, 0-for-7 from beyond the arc
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So far in the NBA Finals, Irving has arguably been the most beloved player for Celtics fans. After averaging 27 PPG and shooting 49 percent from the field, including 37.5 percent from the perimeter in the Western Conference Finals, Irving’s play against Boston is one of the biggest reasons why it’s two games away from winning a championship.
In the first two games of the Mavericks vs Celtics series, Irving combined for 6 fouls and 5 turnovers with just 8 assists and 28 combined points in two games. Despite playing 78 minutes in the two contests, Irving hasn’t made a single three-point shot and he’s just n13-of-37 from the field.
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As he walked off the court following a Game 2 loss to the Celtics, cameras caught Irving waving back to Boston’s fans and seemingly guaranteeing that he’ll be back at the TD Garden for Game 5.
Irving is arguably the biggest reason why the Mavericks are two games shy of being swept in the NBA Finals. If Luka Doncic manages to win even one game back home in Dallas, Boston fans will probably be happy to see Irving in Game 5 if he continues to perform like he has.
Then again, it’s very possible this series won’t make it back to Boston. After Sunday, Irving has now lost 12 consecutive games against the Celtics and there’s a good chance that streak hits 14 consecutive defeats to his former team.
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