SUMMARY
- Shaquille O'Neal believes none of the superstars stepped up in Game 1, especially Kyrie Irving.
- Irving finished with 12 points, shooting 6-19 from the field and he gave all credit to the Celtics for hitting them with a barrage of three-pointers.
Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks fought hard despite facing a massive double-digit deficit during the NBA Finals series opener against the Boston Celtics. The latter led by as much as 29 points during the second quarter. Dallas tried their best to cut the chase to single-digits but the Celtics simply answered stronger every time.
Shaquille O’Neal analyzed the game quite well bringing out the fact that neither of the teams’ biggest stars played well, especially Kyrie. He said, “This game is over. Dallas is saying okay we know what we gotta do. Boston is saying hey, three more [and] we gotta win Game 2. So, we’ll see what the adjustments are but again, in times like this, I need my superstars to play well.”
He added, “Kyrie came back on, was 6-19. That’s not going to get it done. Luka 12-26, that’s good. Tatum and Brown didn’t have to play well ’cause the others carried them tonight.” While Irving did a decent job defensively, he could barely make shots going 0-5 from deep. He finished with 12 points without being fouled once.
Kyrie Irving gives all credit to the Celtics
It was probably a tough pill to swallow for the Mavericks, but the Celtics winning this was not unexpected. “I’m just grateful for the experience to get through Game 1,” said Kyrie Irving. He added, “We didn’t perform the way we wanted to tonight. You know, it starts with me, just being able to get out there and get us settled. I got to take some accountability for it.”
Irving continued, “But I think my teammates did a great job of staying together, sticking to the game plan. We obviously made some mistakes. But we gave ourselves a chance in the second half and we just got to continue to do the right things.” The Celtics hit the Mavericks with a barrage of three-pointers shooting 16-42 while the latter only shot 7-27.
“They hit a lot of threes. And again, when you get them rolling like that they play a very easy game the rest of the game. And we just got to hit them in the mouth a little bit. So, they did their job,” said Irving. Luka Doncic finished with 30 points and was the only player from the Mavericks’ camp to score over 15 points.
Somehow the Mavericks cut the chase to eight points which had the Celtics a little concerned. Jaylen Brown, the Celtics leading scorer of the night addressed what his team felt during that moment. He said, “We just said, just breathe. The game is starting now. Just breathe. We’re in, this is a moment where our experience shines through. Just breathe, just keep playing basketball.” Brown had 22 points at the end of the game, while Jayson Tatum finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
JJ Redick says Mavericks have a “math problem” to solve vs Celtics
The Mavericks were inevitably going to face problems when the Celtics decided to bring Kristaps Porzingis onto the floor after 38 days of rehabilitation. He dominated the first half and finished with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks coming off the bench. Following the game, JJ Redick gave a short take on what the Mavericks are potentially dealing with in the NBA Finals.
He said, “The Boston Celtics, particularly at home we’ve seen them do this time and time again, they’ve set records this year for the most wins by 25 or more, the most times leading by 20 or more within a game. This is what they do and this is the math problem for the Dallas Mavericks.” Redick also believes the Celtics will have more success if they restrict the Mavericks from shooting corner threes and lob dunks in the pick-and-roll.