No Mavericks player was booed more vociferously in Game 1 of the NBA Finals than Kyrie Irving.
After his postgame comments, Irving can expect to hear even noisier jeers in Game 2.
The former Celtics guard said after Boston steamrolled Dallas 107-89 on Thursday night that he was expecting a louder crowd in his latest return to TD Garden.
“Being in this environment, I’m used to it at this point,” said Irving, who played for the Celtics from 2017-19 and has been hated by a large portion of their fanbase ever since. “Early in my career, there was a different relationship that I had with Boston and just being able to come here, be settled with a veteran group. Now I’m here as a veteran, over the past few years, just experiencing the playoffs here, even 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 my element.”
Whether or not the fans — who initiated more than a half-dozen “Kyrie sucks” chants and booed him every time he touched the ball — were to blame, Irving certainly looked flummoxed in the Mavs’ blowout loss. He scored 12 points on 19 shots and was 0-for-5 from 3-point range. Luka Doncic’s co-star also dished out just two assists, turned the ball over three times, did not attempt a free throw and was a team-worst minus-19 in his 37 minutes.
Doncic scored 30 points for Dallas but got little help from his supporting cast. No other Mavs player finished with more than 14 points, and the team had more turnovers (12) than total assists (nine).
The loss extended Irving’s years-long losing streak against his former club. He has not beaten Boston since the 2021 playoffs, dropping the last 11 matchups.
“It’s not the first time I’ve lost in Boston,” Irving said. “I don’t want to continue to make it a habit, but they’ve had a few games over me and they have our number. Not our number — I don’t want to say our number — 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.”
Though the Celtics dominated Thursday night, Irving and the Mavs have been in this position before. Dallas lost by double digits in Game 1 of each of their first two series this postseason before rallying to win both.
The Garden faithful surely will do all it can to rattle Irving again in Game 2 on Sunday night.
