Kyrie Irving is aware that his play must improve significantly if the Dallas Mavericks are to have any chance of defeating the Boston Celtics and taking home a title.
And he accepted responsibility by getting in touch with co-star Luka Doncic.
After practice, Irving told reporters, “It started with me just telling my hermano I got to play better for him, alongside him.”
“We both need to be playing well and doing the small things, going above and beyond to win, in order for us to reach our goal.
“Simple talk. However, it all began with me reaching out to him and admitting that I was to blame for not playing very well.”
Irving has not made a 3-pointer (0-8) in the series and has only averaged 14.0 points on 35% shooting from the field in the first two losses. He was scoring 22.8 points per game in the playoffs on 48.5% shooting prior to the finals.
“I haven’t played well or to my standards, as I would have liked,” stated Irving, who has suffered 12 straight defeats against the Celtics since leaving the team in free agency during the 2019 offseason.
Now that I’m back in Boston, I feel an intense drive to do well on the field. I wanted to support my teammates. It’s annoying for a competitor like me. However, I don’t want that to influence or bleed into any other choices I have to make as a player there.”
In the NBA Finals, Boston leads 2-0; Game 3 will be played in Dallas.
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