For everyone who’s a Celtics fan, yesterday’s Game 1 was a feast for the eyes. And for those of you, who are Mavs’ fans, well, there are still enough matches left for Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic to redeem themselves. Speaking of Irving, well, the Boston audience and fans were pretty riled up to see him. With boos and “f–k you’s” chanted across, the atmosphere at TD Garden could be part of the reason why the Dallas side couldn’t bring their A-Game in Game 1. The Mavs were almost always trailing behind by 20 points. Doncic and Irving tried their best to bring that trail up to 8 points, but Boston saw their moves, and they dealt it pretty aggressively. The match ended with a lot of blocks, a lot of posterizing, and a lot many fall downs. The final score stood at 107-89.

Certainly, everyone in the locker room isn’t feeling good about themselves. The enthusiasm with which they started turned into a dulled affair, all served at the hands of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and even Kristaps Porziņģis, who was playing for the first time since April 29. Adding to this, Boston fans are not leaving the Dallas team on social media too, even now. Memes and viral moments are flooded across the internet. It really is an adverse situation, which is probably why Irving feels he and his team should just stay away from social media for some time.

In the post-game pressers, he addressed the fact that they have a lot to act on and they need to figure out how should they control their emotions, especially after this massive defeat. Staying positive to beat the competition is the key to taking charge in further games. He understands that the Mavericks are the best in the world, especially since they are the only ones who managed to defeat all other teams to make it to this stage. They have their aim clear – to get rid of the Celts by hook or by crook. So, in the two days they now have, they are probably aiming for a social media detox.

This is what he said in the pressers: “We got two days in between. So, there’s going to be a lot of noise and a lot of ‘who played well’, ‘who didn’t play well’, ‘who’s under pressure’, and I’m just telling my guys now, it’s not the time to fall into that and get divided. And you know, be on social media all day, listening to people that aren’t on the court with us”.

He did take a dig on all the internet haters, without diving too deep into the issue. He followed his statement by saying, “no disrespect to anybody. But it’s just, you know, we’re the players out there. So, we got to control what we can control and be ready to put on for each other”. 

Irving’s way of dealing with the stress of this loss is amazing. Probably if they go with this mindset to all the other games, we could see the Dallas side redeem themselves, instead of getting confused and disheartened.

What went wrong for Kyrie Irving and co. in Game 1?

Kyrie Irving is a paradox. He is a wizard on the court, but can often be susceptible to recklessness. In the past too, he has lost control of his career due to the very reason.

This season, with his successful journey against the Clippers, OKC Thunder, and the Timberwolves, he’s managed to show off his lethal abilities to score. On the defensive side, he’s only grown stronger. But then in Game 1, he only scored 12 points on 6-for-19 shooting in 36 minutes on the court. Every single time he’s matched up against them, he has lost since his tenure with Brooklyn. So, the Mavericks will need that magical Kyrie to come back and have a series of a lifetime to beat his ex-team.

His struggles were evident last night. He did miss many open 3s, wide open for him, that he would have normally taken up. But it was Boston’s supreme defensive strategies that led him to such a slow night. So, if Irving plays as majestically as he has in the Western Conference Finals with Luka Doncic, the Mavs still have a strong chance to defeat the C’s.

Apart from White and Holiday, the Celtics can easily throw massive shockers Kyrie’s way with Jayston Tatum and Jaylen Brown. He needs to figure out a way to deal with that in the subsequent ways. And even if he does manage to do so, there’s Porziņģis and Horford waiting for him to get near the rim.

But there’s an even bigger problem waiting for the Mavericks. As pointed out earlier, not just Kyrie, everyone on the Dallas roster shot way fewer 3s than they did all season. They were incredible in the playoffs and the regular season. In fact, there was no team that shot more corner 3-pointers than the Mavericks did. In Game 1, we saw only 3 attempts, and one of them was an off-dribble, off the side of the backboard by Uncle Drew.

And to top it all off, the Mavs tallied just 9 assists in Game 1, coming down to just 26%, which is the lowest for any team in any of the Finals since the ’70s. This is also the lowest for any team in this entire season. Boston Celtics were so passionate that even Doncic, one of the best passers in NBA history, couldn’t uphold the challenge.

The Boston side was constantly switching their gameplay. They first focused on their offense and then suddenly started to grip their defensive side, leaving the Mavs’ fans around the world praying for a miracle. So, if the Mavs are looking for a chance to win, they have a lot to tackle to beat the Celtics in the Finals.