Kyrie went 5-16 in getting eliminated and we have schadenfreude.

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Did anybody clip that incredible "pass" when he flubbed the ball into a backward roll out-of-bounds toward the backcourt?

Also bummed out that after the second-half sequence where he tripped over himself -- twice (maybe even 3 times?) -- and had a turnover, the Mavs quickly recovered and scored, ruining what would've been another all time keeper of a clip.
NBA.com has clips of all of the TOs in the game. The one you are talking about should be the first at this link: Video and Shotcharts | Stats | NBA.com
 

Auger34

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I was listening to the Lowe Post podcast where Zach and Brian Windhorst were saying, "No way Kyrie was intimidated by the Boston crowd! He did not seem intimidated at all!"

How about: he's not intimidated but he's just a bit distracted? Various media guys (Gorman, Simmons) reported that he seemed to be paying a lot of attention to hecklers. I generally trust pro athletes to tune this stuff out, but maybe KI is a slight exception. The point is, these things tend to get cast in black-and-white narratives of "is he afraid vs. or not afraid?" but maybe the crowd reaction is just incrementally chewing away at his focus to a degree that leads to two or three or four missed shots that he might normally hit. It doesn't take much...
Lowe has just flat out embarrassed himself talking about this series.

And the crowd clearly does get to Kyrie. He used to sit out games in Boston and Cleveland. He fucking walked around the arena burning sage.
None of those things scream “none of this stuff bothers me”
 

tims4wins

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We talk about this 11 game streak. The last time he cooked the Celts was game 1 of that 2022 first round series. 12-20 for 30 points. The next 9 games have all ranged from meh to poor.

I have no idea if they are in his head or they just have great defensive guards, or a combination of both. But factually speaking, he has had a really hard time beating them.
 

bellowthecat

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When Kyrie said he thought it would be louder in the Garden, what he really meant was he thought there would be more "kyrie sucks" or "fuck kyrie" chants. It's always all about him. He is the main character. Windows could have cracked and he still would have said he expected more unless it was specifically about him.
 

tims4wins

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When Kyrie said he thought it would be louder in the Garden, what he really meant was he thought there would be more "kyrie sucks" or "fuck kyrie" chants. It's always all about him. He is the main character. Windows could have cracked and he still would have said he expected more unless it was specifically about him.
This is 100% spot on.
 

Auger34

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When Kyrie said he thought it would be louder in the Garden, what he really meant was he thought there would be more "kyrie sucks" or "fuck kyrie" chants. It's always all about him. He is the main character. Windows could have cracked and he still would have said he expected more unless it was specifically about him.
Spot on.

This and another poster (I believe @timelysarcasm?) who mentioned that Kyrie tries to be zen and team oriented but sometime the mask slips off to reveal his true self have really nailed the Kyrie experience
 

Shaky Walton

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When the Mavs won the western conference finals, I think a lot of us, while still very confident about the Cs’ chances, were slightly concerned/nervous about the unthinkable — Kyrie getting his revenge. But the flip side possibility is so delicious. Sure, by far the main thing is Banner 18. That’s the main focus and it almost doesn’t matter who the opponent is. But yeah, dare to dream, dare to enjoy every time Kyrie covers himself in manure and dare to have the confidence to enjoy the ride.

Nothing is promised and the Celts battered the hated Lakers in game 1 in 1985 before losing that series. And there are plenty of other similar examples out there. So we will not get ahead of ourselves.

Still…contrary to what one respected poster wrote up thread, Kyrie is incredibly easy to hate hate hate and is truly my favorite villain in Boston sports history.
 

Captaincoop

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When the Mavs won the western conference finals, I think a lot of us, while still very confident about the Cs’ chances, were slightly concerned/nervous about the unthinkable — Kyrie getting his revenge. But the flip side possibility is so delicious. Sure, by far the main thing is Banner 18. That’s the main focus and it almost doesn’t matter who the opponent is. But yeah, dare to dream, dare to enjoy every time Kyrie covers himself in manure and dare to have the confidence to enjoy the ride.

Nothing is promised and the Celts battered the hated Lakers in game 1 in 1985 before losing that series. And there are plenty of other similar examples out there. So we will not get ahead of ourselves.

Still…contrary to what one respected poster wrote up thread, Kyrie is incredibly easy to hate hate hate and is truly my favorite villain in Boston sports history.
He's such a disingenuous phony, in addition to all his other flaws, that if he loses the series he'll act like he's taking the high road instead of giving us the satisfaction of pouting or walking off the court without shaking hands, like the 80's Pistons would have done.
 

nighthob

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Yes, but it's not like the rest of that team was bad. They still took LeBron's Cavs to 7 games in the ECF and maybe Hayward helps them over the hump there. But my point is he gets to Boston, goes to the ECF in his first year and by the same time next year is asking players to join him in Brooklyn. That's pretty abysmal as a leader.
It wasn’t the “same time next year”. It was the minute the season was over. He was texting Nets players the ensuing fall to let them know that he’d agreed to sign in Brooklyn. However, as I’ve always said, I don’t blame Kyrie for his behavior, I blame Danny for fighting to change his mind. He should have just dealt Irving for whatever he could get and moved on. They might have been able to hold on to Al, who was clearly bailing on them because Irving was leaving. But playing on the post-Kyrie Celtics might have convinced Al that the future was still bright. Playing Rozier at the 1 might have spared them the Walker mistake.
 

lexrageorge

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It wasn’t the “same time next year”. It was the minute the season was over. He was texting Nets players the ensuing fall to let them know that he’d agreed to sign in Brooklyn. However, as I’ve always said, I don’t blame Kyrie for his behavior, I blame Danny for fighting to change his mind. He should have just dealt Irving for whatever he could get and moved on. They might have been able to hold on to Al, who was clearly bailing on them because Irving was leaving. But playing on the post-Kyrie Celtics might have convinced Al that the future was still bright. Playing Rozier at the 1 might have spared them the Walker mistake.
The one skill that Ainge had lost around that time was the ability to get a read if a player was interested in staying (or coming to Boston in the first place).
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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The one skill that Ainge had lost around that time was the ability to get a read if a player was interested in staying (or coming to Boston in the first place).
I dunno. My guess is that DA figured that Kyrie would try in the playoffs and if they made a long playoff run, maybe that would be too enticing to leave.

But after his conversation with KD at the All-Star game, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion I suppose.

When the Mavs won the western conference finals, I think a lot of us, while still very confident about the Cs’ chances, were slightly concerned/nervous about the unthinkable — Kyrie getting his revenge. But the flip side possibility is so delicious. Sure, by far the main thing is Banner 18. That’s the main focus and it almost doesn’t matter who the opponent is. But yeah, dare to dream, dare to enjoy every time Kyrie covers himself in manure and dare to have the confidence to enjoy the ride.

Nothing is promised and the Celts battered the hated Lakers in game 1 in 1985 before losing that series. And there are plenty of other similar examples out there. So we will not get ahead of ourselves.

Still…contrary to what one respected poster wrote up thread, Kyrie is incredibly easy to hate hate hate and is truly my favorite villain in Boston sports history.
In some ways, IF the Cs win, DAL will have been the best possible opponent. Not sure who will be happiest - Al for finally winning a chip (that will be a great scene to watch; I'm sure he'll be bawlin' like a baby); the Cs fans for winning while sticking it to Kyrie; or KP for showing DAL they probably shouldn't have dumped for a used bag of burnt sage.
 

The Social Chair

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I dunno. My guess is that DA figured that Kyrie would try in the playoffs and if they made a long playoff run, maybe that would be too enticing to leave.

But after his conversation with KD at the All-Star game, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion I suppose.


In some ways, IF the Cs win, DAL will have been the best possible opponent. Not sure who will be happiest - Al for finally winning a chip (that will be a great scene to watch; I'm sure he'll be bawlin' like a baby); the Cs fans for winning while sticking it to Kyrie; or KP for showing DAL they probably shouldn't have dumped for a used bag of burnt sage.
Or Jaylen, who had his name booed at a draft selection party, has been thrown in fake trade rumors every year, had his extentions scoffed at TWICE, and continues to be underrated by NBA media.

I don't even want to get into how Tatum has been treated like he's the singular form of the early 90s Trailblazers.
 

nighthob

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The one skill that Ainge had lost around that time was the ability to get a read if a player was interested in staying (or coming to Boston in the first place).
I’d say it was a slightly different problem, he has his great white whales and he chases them to the exclusion of all else. In that case it was his desire to land Anthony Davis, and he thought Kyrie was going to make it possible. We might be chasing #19 or #20 if he’d just given up on AD and dealt Kyrie for picks.

I dunno. My guess is that DA figured that Kyrie would try in the playoffs and if they made a long playoff run, maybe that would be too enticing to leave.

But after his conversation with KD at the All-Star game, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion I suppose.
It was a foregone conclusion a couple of months earlier when he was texting Dinwiddie that he’d agreed to sign with Brooklyn.
 

Smokey Joe

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It wasn’t the “same time next year”. It was the minute the season was over. He was texting Nets players the ensuing fall to let them know that he’d agreed to sign in Brooklyn. However, as I’ve always said, I don’t blame Kyrie for his behavior, I blame Danny for fighting to change his mind. He should have just dealt Irving for whatever he could get and moved on. They might have been able to hold on to Al, who was clearly bailing on them because Irving was leaving. But playing on the post-Kyrie Celtics might have convinced Al that the future was still bright. Playing Rozier at the 1 might have spared them the Walker mistake.
My understanding was that Al was leaving because Kyrie was staying. After it became clear that Kyrie was bailing. Ainge tried to convince Al to reconsider, but by that time Al had already committed to the 76ers and because he is a decent honorable person he felt he could not renege on the deal.
 

Saints Rest

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We talk about this 11 game streak. The last time he cooked the Celts was game 1 of that 2022 first round series. 12-20 for 30 points. The next 9 games have all ranged from meh to poor.

I have no idea if they are in his head or they just have great defensive guards, or a combination of both. But factually speaking, he has had a really hard time beating them.
Time to update the thread title.
 

Light-Tower-Power

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The crowd really gets to him. Multiple times tonight he tried the “encourage the boos” route and followed it up with a whole lot of nothing.
 

Shaky Walton

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The crowd really gets to him. Multiple times tonight he tried the “encourage the boos” route and followed it up with a whole lot of nothing.
He really is a gift…in Boston.

While he should and almost certainly will play better in Dallas, the Ca will still have the same defensive crew to harass him, which undoubtably has a helluva a lot to do with his performance.
 

Reverend

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Kyrie’s a big, tall, athletic, good looking guy who seems very confident. And yet he so rapidly triggers a “this guy is a tool,” response in me. That’s actually a really difficult trick to pull off.
 

Ed Hillel

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The D on Kyrie by White/Jrue was amazing. The best shot he could get off were fall-away midrangers.
 

Ed Hillel

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Kenny F'ing Powers

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The D on Kyrie by White/Jrue was amazing. The best shot he could get off were fall-away midrangers.
I was drinking, but I recall a surprising sequence by Pritchard on Kyrie where he smothered him into a contested baseline J that was missed.

Pritchard > Irving
 

JCizzle

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I was drinking, but I recall a surprising sequence by Pritchard on Kyrie where he smothered him into a contested baseline J that was missed.

Pritchard > Irving
Pritchard not only held up well against Kyrie, but Luka badly front rimmed at least one against him. He was good defensively.
 

Reverend

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Pritch largely holding up against the Mavs trying to hunt him is one of the great enjoyable minor subplots of this series thus far.
 

lovegtm

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NomarsFool

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It's funny how many people said he'd be unplayable in the playoffs and how playable he's been. Literally totally fine to play in every series so far (adjusting for the fact that he's a 15 min/game bench guy).

Also:
View: https://twitter.com/AdamHimmelsbach/status/1800015513088582042
I’d think the players would all know this stuff inside and out - I mean, how could you not? It’s your livelihood?

Kyrie’s “performance” is one of the most surprising things in this series. Before the series, some were talking about him being the second best player in the series and based on this series alone, he wouldn’t even be a starter on the Celtics.
 

Van Everyman

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Really important games for Kyrie coming up in Dallas.
Agree. Kyrie reputation as the Handle GOAT has allowed him to sidestep his poor postseason play since Cleveland because of injuries, team dysfunction and his teams not going very far. But if he turns in another turd and his team gets blown out of the Finals, the conversation about him is going to turn quickly.

That said, I expect Kyrie at a minimum to turn up the effort and energy in game 3. Word is that he has been pretty distracted by Boston fans in the Garden. Nobody is looking forward to going back to Dallas more than him.
 

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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I wonder if we’ll see as many Cs fans in Dallas as I saw there back in January. That crowd was sad, but I’ll assume the Mavs fans show up for game 3. If it’s 3-0, I bet we see a lot of green as they sell off their seats.
 

TomRicardo

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You sure about that?
View: https://twitter.com/NoaDalzellNBA/status/1799489772693471682

This entire Kyrie Irving clip is worth a watch. One thing that stood out to me is the he shared that his experience walking around Boston has included lots of positive interactions and mutual respect.
“There’s a lot of Celtics fans who still love me.”
I mean if I ran into Kyrie on the street, I would be positive. Why would you be a jerk? Doesn't mean I wouldn't chant Kyrie sucks or I don't enjoy when he doesn't do well.
 

NomarsFool

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Yeah. I would think the number of people who would say something negative to Kyrie on the street, to his face, has got to be like <1%.
 

Justthetippett

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I mean if I ran into Kyrie on the street, I would be positive. Why would you be a jerk? Doesn't mean I wouldn't chant Kyrie sucks or I don't enjoy when he doesn't do well.
We all wanted to love Kyrie. He failed and then jilted us. He's now very easy to root against when he's on the court. But yeah, not so much that basketball fans in the city can't appreciate his performance or be polite on the street. If anything I'd think the Brooklyn fanbase has more of an axe to grind. That's where he really went off the rails.
 

bigq

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The best back court in the history of the game trope is even more far fetched now than it was leading up to the Finals. Kyrie has been invisible so far in the series shooting 35% from the floor and 0% from 3 with TS of 37%. The Dallas back court has turned the ball over 17 times through two games compared with 3 for Boston. Neither Kyrie or Luka can play defense. Whoever said Dallas has the two best players in the series has a fair amount of egg on their face. Kyrie will probably play better with the series returning to Dallas as it is nearly impossible for him to play worse. Insignificant is the best way to describe his play through two games.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Yeah. I would think the number of people who would say something negative to Kyrie on the street, to his face, has got to be like <1%.
Really? I think the percentage of SOSHers who would say something bad to Kryie would be greater than 1% (I mean not to single anyone out but we just had an anecdote of someone saying something to Mike Breen of all people), and that's exponentially lower than the % of people who listen to sports talk radio.