Kyrie Irving has not been away for the Celtics for over five years now after leaving Boston in free agency in the summer of 2019, yet it’s evident he still keeps close tabs on his former teammates. The All-Star guard had long embraces with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown after Boston’s dominant 122-107 win Saturday night at American Airlines Arena.
The NBA Finals rematch did not live up to its billing in part due to the absence of Luka Doncic. Irving had a team-high 22 points for the Mavericks but he couldn’t keep pace with a Celtics starting five that had all five players score 17 points or more for the first time all year.
Boston also turned the ball over just five times in the rout, leading to a superb offensive effort for the better part of the final three quarters. Irving was asked about Boston’s close to flawless play after the game and whether that was a sign they are just on a higher level than the Western Conference champions.
“Or they’ve lost a couple of games and Joe Mazzulla got into their a** a little bit and you get the result you got tonight,” Irving said. “Going against us, playing with a verve, playing with a confidence and taking care of the ball.
“They made adjustments and that’s what great teams do, especially when they are champions in the league. They handled our pressure, they adjusted to our zone coverage, they started getting open shots and it’s a pretty easy game from there.”
