Kyrie Irving Addresses Road Struggles in NBA Finals

Kyrie Irving had a poor showing in three games in Boston in last year's Finals and wants to be better next time

Jun 9, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) reacts after a play against the Boston Celtics during the first quarter in game two of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Kyrie Irving had a rough series in the NBA Finals, especially when playing on the road in Boston. His history with his former team is well documented, but averaging 14.3 PPG while shooting 33.9% from the floor is unlike the dazzling guard. He's matured and grown into a great leader for the Mavs, but it was clear something affected him in those three games in Boston with a championship on the line.

Monday was media day for the Dallas Mavericks, and Irving did a one-on-one interview with the "Locked On Mavericks" podcast, where they asked him about his struggles in that series against the Boston Celtics.

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"It's not the best reflection of who I am, especially when going into Boston and feeling like we have a great team, but also, I'm feeling like the best I've felt in the past few years," Irving started. "I have always known that going against some guys that I've played [with] is always going to be some of the toughest... [guys] that know my game extremely well. Playing against Jrue Holiday, [Jayson Tatum], [Jaylen Brown], even Derrick White and Al Horford. That starting five with [Kristaps Porzingis] thrown in there, they had a great defensive group, and they play extremely well off each other on the defensive end. So as much as my [isolation] game wasn't working, I just felt like I really settled for a lot of jump shots that I probably could've got closer to the rim and then a lot of shots that I got at the rim, I definitely could've finished. Home and away, I don't think there's going to be a big difference, and I'm here to dispel all that stuff this year because it is an annoying portion of the legacy building of, yes, competition is one thing, but then you have the extra memes and the extra naysayers are saying 'Well, why doesn't he play well in Boston?' Okay, I haven't played well in Boston, but there's always a great chance to redeem yourself in competition, and I'm looking forward to utilizing that motivation energy and also playing against the best, we went against a great team... I give credit to the Boston Celtics while also staying motivated myself to continue to be better and demand more out of myself so I don't perform at that level, and perform at a better level than I know I'm capable of."

It's a very mature answer from Irving: acknowledging he didn't play well, giving credit to the Celtics for having a great defensive group, and using it as motivation going forward. This is the Kyrie the Mavs were hoping for when they traded for him at the 2023 trade deadline.

If the Mavs find a way to make it back to the NBA Finals this season, there's a good chance the Celtics will be there again. Boston currently sits as the heavy favorite to win the Eastern Conference and the NBA Finals and has the highest total of projected wins in the over/unders. As Kyrie said, it's a very talented team that will come into this season motivated after Jaylen Brown was snubbed from Team USA in the Olympics and Jayson Tatum hardly played in the Paris Games.

The Mavericks are currently going through training camp in Las Vegas and will start the preseason on October 7th against the Memphis Grizzlies.

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