Kyrie Irving Explains Why Celtics’ Early Dominance Plagued Mavericks

The Celtics scored 37 points in the first quarter to set the tone in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving didn’t mince words when he described the Celtics’ early dominance, which Dallas couldn’t overcome, falling 107-89 to Boston.

“They came out and hit us in the mouth early,” Irving said, per NBA transcripts. “Got the home crowd going into it. Down 17 in the first quarter. It’s not really like us to give up 37 points. It’s happened to us before in the playoffs, but we just wanted to make it a lot tougher on them. They hit a lot of threes.”

Irving added: “Again, when you get them rolling like that, they play a very easy game the rest of the game, and we’ve just got to hit them in the mouth a little bit.”

Boston went 7-for-15 from beyond the arc in the first quarter and 16-of-42 in the game. Luka Doncic noted the Mavericks needed to better handle the Celtics’ five-out offense in Game 2.

“I mean, obviously, I think they are the best three-point shooting team in the NBA, so sometimes really hard to take those away,” Doncic said, per NBA transcripts. “Especially when they have five guys out and they can all shoot. Obviously, we’ve got to make more. We didn’t make enough shots (in Game 1) to beat them. But we’ve got to be better on both ends (of the court).”

Doncic continued: “We’ve got to take those threes away. That’s what hurt us the most.”

The Mavericks did go on a run at the beginning of the third quarter and game within eight points, but the Celtics were able to retake momentum to close out the game.

“They did their job getting Game 1,” Irving said. “But we are going to take our lessons and get ready for a good Game 2.”

Boston leads the best-of-seven series 1-0. Game 2 from TD Garden is Sunday night, with tipoff at 8 p.m. ET.