BOSTON — With his Dallas Mavericks trying to avoid elimination in the NBA Finals, Kyrie Irving is feeling the pressure of performing in a visiting arena that presents exceptionally challenging circumstances for him.
After Sunday’s practice in preparation for Monday’s Game 5, Irving talked about the villainous treatment he’s received at TD Garden since his decision to leave the Boston Celtics in free agency five years ago.
Irving struggled in both of the Mavs’ road losses to open these Finals, averaging 14.0 points on 35.1% shooting, providing plenty of ammunition for a fan base that considers him a public enemy.
“I mean, let’s call it what it is,” Irving said. “When fans cheer, ‘Kyrie sucks,’ they feel like they have a psychological advantage, and that’s fair. Of course, if I’m not making shots or turning the ball over, that makes it an even more pressing problem so they can stay with me.
“I think to silence even the doubts, let alone the doubts of the public, but the doubts when you make or miss shots, that is just as important as making sure that I am leading the team the right way and being human.” this experience too and telling them how I feel.
The Mavs’ 122-84 series-extending rout in Game 4 ended Irving’s personal 13-game losing streak against the Celtics, a drought that included a sweep of his Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the playoffs. of the 2022 Eastern Conference.
Before these Finals began, Irving expressed his regret for how he reacted to Celtics fans during that 2022 series, specifically giving them his middle finger on a couple of occasions. He had stepped on the Leprechaun’s eye on the half-court logo after Brooklyn’s victory in Game 4 of the 2021 East for the first time, a series the Nets won in five games, further enraging a Boston fan base. that they felt slighted by their departure from free agency.
On Sunday, Irving said in retrospect that he should have shown more respect for the Celtics’ history since he was traded to Boston in the summer of 2017. He said he wishes he had made an effort to build relationships with some of the players on the 17 teams. NBA champions who tied the Celtics’ record instead of waiting for them to come close to it.
“You have to show respect here,” Irving said. “I think that’s what I struggled with in the beginning, figuring out how I’m going to be a great player here while winning championships and also running a team and selflessly joining the Celtics organization or the cult that they have here.
“That’s what they expect you to do as a player. They expect you to readily embrace Celtics pride, to embrace everything that the Celtics are. And if you don’t, then you’ll be ostracized.
“I’m one of the people on the sidelines (laughs). I’m perfectly fine with that, you know what I mean. I did it to myself. They don’t greet me with a warm hug.”
Irving performed well in both Finals games in Dallas, averaging 28.0 points on 50% shooting in front of the friendly home crowd at the American Airlines Center.
Irving said the Mavs weren’t “as settled as we would have liked” in the first two games of the series at TD Garden. When asked about his approach to Game 5, given the unique circumstances in Boston, Irving said he would “change some things.”
“Be prepared for what I’m getting into,” Irving said. “The most important thing is not to talk about myself or get into the energy with anyone other than my teammates. That’s it.”
The Mavs face a monumental challenge regardless of venue as they attempt to make NBA history by becoming the first of 157 teams to overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a series.
“What I’m sharing now with my teammates is just enjoying the moment,” said Irving, who hit the game-winning shot in Game 7 in the 2016 Finals, when the Cleveland Cavaliers became the only team to overcome a deficit of 3-1 in the final. championship series. “We have the opportunity to achieve one of our goals, which is to return to Boston. We have another goal ahead of us, and that is to return to Dallas.”
Dallas superstar Luka Doncic’s line of action is that the Mavs will believe until the end. He pointed to the Mavs’ performance in Game 4 as proof that it’s not just talk.
“I think the most important thing is to show that we believe,” Doncic said Sunday. “I think we showed that in Game 4. If not, if we didn’t believe, we probably wouldn’t have won that game.
“So I think obviously it’s easy to talk about it, but then showing it is something else. I think we showed it.”
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