Kyrie Irving Needs To Wake Up For Dallas Mavericks To Tie NBA Finals

Kyrie Irving might just help the Boston Celtics get a title after all.

Only problem is, he’s about to do so while playing for a different team.

Irving was a non-factor during the Dallas Mavericks’ 107-89 loss to Boston in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night, scoring 12 points on 6-of-19 shooting. He went 0-for-5 from 3-point range and committed three turnovers while getting berated by Celtics fans, who still haven’t forgiven him for leaving Boston for the Brooklyn Nets in June 2019.

Even with Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis’ status up in the air due to a calf strain, Dallas was already at a disadvantage coming into this series. Boston finished with the best record in the league during the regular season (64-18), then proceeded to win 12 of 14 playoff games ahead of the Finals.

And now Porzingis is back, making Celtics star Jaylen Brown feel like the team is once again complete. Porzingis went for 20 points in just 21 minutes of action off the bench in Game 1.

“I think he's a big reason why we've been the best team in basketball record-wise,” Brown said. “Having him back and him playing well and to that level he was during the season is so important for us because you got another defender, another shooter, out there that you have to respect. So that just opens it up for everybody else.”

So what does that mean for the Mavericks? Well, they need Irving now more than ever.

Without Irving and Luka Doncic both playing at a high level, Dallas has no chance of outlasting Boston in a best-of-seven series. The Celtics simply have too many weapons, and the Mavericks believing that Derrick Jones Jr., P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford can match the production of Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Al Horford and Porzingis is essentially the equivalent of bringing a knife to a gunfight.

Doncic is going to get his night in and night out. He collected 30 points and 10 boards on Thursday, but Irving not showing up took Dallas right out of the game.

Getting Irving going is the change that needs to be made, but we should also acknowledge the fact that it’s a change that might not move the needle enough.

Based off Game 1, it almost feels like Doncic and Irving would each need to drop 35 points just to give the Mavericks a chance to steal a game vs. Boston. Even then, does Dallas’ supporting cast have what it takes to solve the Celtics’ defense for another 35-40 points?

We don’t think so.

Kudos to the Mavericks. They’ve had an unbelievable season. From making the right moves at the trade deadline to ousting some serious contenders in the playoffs, this franchise took a huge step forward in 2023-24.

But sometimes you just run into an absolute beast of a team when it matters most. That beast happens to be Boston, and although it’s only been one game in a seven-game set, there may be no chance of taming it.