Kyrie Irving on Boston crowd in Game 1: ‘I thought it was going to be a little louder’
New York TimesBOSTON — New Englanders booed Kyrie Irving on Thursday night. They told him, in unison, he is a verb worse than “stinks.” Irving’s reply, following his first NBA Finals game against his former team, at TD Garden, the building he called home for two injury-plagued, tumultuous seasons? “I thought it was going to be a little louder in here.” Safe bet Celtics fans meet Irving’s expectations in Game 2 on Sunday. Dallas coach Jason Kidd said that he, in his Thursday morning address to the team, asked Irving, who has played in three previous finals with Cleveland, and Luka Dončić, one of the game’s biggest stars, to teach the less experienced Mavericks how to handle the spotlight and pressure of the finals. “That’s what this game is about is controlling our actions, making sure that we stay positive, but also know what we are going up against, the competition level,” Irving said.