BOSTON — Playing at TD Garden over the last several years has not been kind to Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving.
Irving hadn’t won at the venue since he famously enraged Celtics fans when he stomped on Boston’s Lucky the Leprechaun logo at mid-court following a win in Game 4 of a first-round playoff series when he played for the Brooklyn Nets.
But Irving’s luck finally changed Thursday night in Boston.
The former Celtics guard led the Mavericks to a 127-120 win on the famed parquet as Irving chipped in 19 points on 7-for-17 shooting to go along with four assists. And the much-needed win in a place where the fans love to torment him wasn’t lost on Irving.
“Man, to be honest with you, I was just trying to keep it as another game. But I’d be lying to you guys if I say I’m not aware of the record I have in this building since 2020 or 2021,” Irving told reporters, per CLNS Media. “It’s more of a motivation factor for me than anything now because they’re the best of the best. They’re the champions in our league until another champion is crowned. You want to play your absolute best against them.”
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It looked like Irving would falter once again at TD Garden when he struggled to find his shooting touch in the first half. After hitting the first two shots he attempted, the 32-year-old guard missed seven straight.
But Irving found a different way to impact the game, as his shots did not fall. Irving came away with four steals in the game, three of which occurred in the opening quarter. The defensive pressure helped the Mavericks to a 32-23 lead and they never looked back.
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Irving stripped Jayson Tatum when Tatum tried to back him down early on and also picked the pocket of Derrick White on a baseline drive to set up Dallas’ transition game.
“He did a good job of that,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said of Irving’s thievery. “He’s a great player, both ends of the floor. He’s got quick hands. He has the ability to time passes, time dribbles and he did a good job of that in the first half.”
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Irving found his shooting stroke in the second half, helping the Mavericks build a 27-point lead before Irving helped hold off a rally by Boston’s reserves in the fourth quarter.
It ended up being the only win for Dallas on their four-game road trip. And it was a meaningful win for Irving, too, given all that has transpired between him and the Celtics.
“They’re going to do everything in their power to stop me,” Irving said. “I’ve said it in the past, but I feel like they feel, and we both feel like they know my game well enough. Send a lot of double teams at me, a lot of different reads that they force me in, but it only makes me better. And I’m just grateful, man. This is what competitive basketball about, competitive sports. It’s just continuing to get better, going against the best of the best, coming out with the ‘W,’ doing whatever it takes to win.”
Featured image via David Butler II/Imagn Images
