BOSTON — Almost everything Kyrie Irving said was positive.
He blamed himself for the Mavericks struggles in their 107-89 Game 1 loss to the Celtics in the NBA Finals. But the unpopular former Celtic guard snuck in one little dig at Boston fans.
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Irving was booed when he was introduced in the starting lineup, booed every time he touched the ball and blood again when he checked back in after a stint on the bench. The TD Garden fans chanted “Kyrie Sucks” on several occasions.
Asked about the atmosphere, Irving may have invited even more scorn.
“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,” he said. “But again, the energy has to be focused towards the game. I felt like I had a lot of great looks. They hit back rim or were just a little left or right. Just got to stay confident and stay poised throughout this, man. This is the best time of the year to be playing. There’s only two teams left. Let’s put it in perspective. The environment is going to be what it is but my focus is on our game plan and making sure my guys feel confident and I feel confident and continue to shoot great shots.”
Irving had 12 points and two assists and shot 6-for-19 from the floor in Thursday’s loss.
He and the TD Garden crowd will get another crack at each in Game 2 on Sunday.
It hasn’t been easy for Irving to feel confident against Boston lately. He admitted the Celtics have gotten the better of him for a while now, no matter who he’s playing for.
“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,” he said. “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. It’s not about holding our heads up for one game if we didn’t play well. It’s the first to four and we obviously know that, but we have to play four complete games, four of our best games, and then we’ll see where we stand after that. … It’s not the booing and it’s not the missed shots. It’s more or less our attitude and how we approach possession by possession. Our identity has been made on the defensive end. We have proven that.”
