Why Kyrie Irving Believes Celtics Have His ‘Number’ In Latest Loss

Make that 11 straight losses for Kyrie Irving against the Boston Celtics.

Irving shot just 6-of-19 from the field with 12 points as the Celtics rode past the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals on Thursday night. That dropped Irving with his 11th loss since stomping on the Celtics logo at TD Garden in 2021. Boston keeps posting victories against its former star guard and he’s not oblivious to that trend.

“Yeah, it’s not the first time I’ve lost in Boston,” Irving told reporters at TD Garden, per a league-provided transcript. “I don’t want to continue to make it a habit but they’ve had a few games over me and they have our number — not our number, I don’t want to say our number but the past few teams I’ve been on, they have had my number a little bit. You have to give credit to a good team. They have been good the past three or four years.”

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The Mavericks, with Irving and superstar Luka Doncic, have plenty of talent to still make this a series against the Celtics. Irving has no doubt there will be a response from his team and believes his internal review of his play can lead to better outings against Boston.

“In the meantime, we’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror and it starts with me as one of the leaders on the team,” Irving added. “How can I be better and how can I be more poised in this environment? It’s not the booing and it’s not the missed shots. It’s more or less our attitude and how we approach possession by possession. Our identity has been made on the defensive end. We have proven that.”

The Celtics have the chance to continue Irving’s streak of struggles against Boston in Game 2 on Sunday night.