‘Booing at TD Garden – worst performance ever’ in Irving’s nightmare Finals
Irving had the worst game of his career.
The Dallas Mavericks lost 88-106 to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the 2023-2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, on Sunday (Jan. 18). The loss dropped Dallas to 1-4 in the series and gave Boston the championship.
It was a disappointing series for Dallas. Leading up to the Finals, many predicted a close game against Boston, with the overwhelming one-two punch of Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic at the center of it all. The duo had been tremendous in the playoffs, leading Dallas to the Finals.
However, the trusted duo didn’t perform as well as expected in the Finals. Boston chose to defend Irving and Doncic purely one-on-one, unlike past teams Dallas has faced. When Dallas switched defenders through screens, they responded with a switch defense. The calculation was that they were confident in their ability to stop Doncic and Irving one-on-one, and that even if they allowed them to score, they could prevent the spillover effect.
The defense worked. Boston had some of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA in Jrue Holiday and Derrick White up front, and Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in the backcourt. Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford are the only weaknesses on defense, but they were both solid in the Finals.
With Boston’s stifling defense shutting down Dallas’ one-two punch, the series quickly swung in Boston’s favor. Doncic also struggled against Boston’s intense pressure defense and had no answer for the difficult three-point shot.
Even worse than Doncic was Irving. Irving has a history of bad blood with Boston fans. Irving played for Boston from 2017 to 2019. His performance was disappointing and, more importantly, he was hated by the Boston fans.
Throughout the series, Boston fans booed Irving every time he touched the ball. He didn”t let it bother him, but it didn”t seem to 토토 affect his play.
Irving had nothing to do with Boston’s defense throughout the Finals. He was stuck on Halladay and White, and with his own offense stifled, he didn’t have enough vision to see his teammates. He didn’t do much on defense either. Boston’s players didn’t seem to care about Irving’s defense at all.
Irving averaged 14.3 points on 34% shooting from the field and 17.6% shooting from three-point range in Game 5 of the Finals. Those numbers are far below expectations. Irving’s slump is all the more remarkable because he had a dominant performance in the Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves, averaging 27 points and 4.6 assists.
Despite the disappointing performance, Irving ended on a high note. With the game virtually decided, Irving went to the bench with two minutes left in the fourth quarter, and as he walked off the bench, he went to the Boston bench and congratulated each player individually. He then hugged Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla as he exited the game.
Irving’s final gesture left the Boston fans cold. They booed Irving and celebrated until the end. For Irving, it was a Finals that he would rather forget.