Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving said Game 1 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass. wasn’t as loud as he expected. The Celtics fans attending Game 2 made sure to up their game.
With Boston up by double digits early in the fourth quarter, Celtics fans started letting Irving hear it. The TD Garden crowd chanted two words in unison as Mavericks center Daniel Gafford headed to the free throw line.
“Kyrie sucks! Kyrie sucks!” Celtics fans chanted.
Irving responded by motioning the fans to keep it going.
Celtics crowd again chants, ‘Kyrie Sucks!’ and Kyrie Irving asks them to keep it going.
(via @TomerAzarly) pic.twitter.com/1wfEDgJtpr
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 10, 2024
Kyrie sucks chants break out and Kyrie motions for them to get louder pic.twitter.com/ImzLB7fpkp
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzellNBA) June 10, 2024
Even when they weren’t chanting, Celtics fans booed Irving whenever he touched the basketball.
Irving had riled up Celtics fans with his comments after Game 1. TD Garden staff poured gasoline over the flaming-hot beef by showing Irving’s quote on the jumbotron at different points in the contest.
Celtics put Kyrie Irving’s quote from Game 1 on the jumbotron to hype up TD Garden
(via @BenGolliver) pic.twitter.com/rzQ5aGWdfV
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 9, 2024
The Mavericks were unable to silence the Celtics fans in Game 2. Dallas lost 105-98 and fell into a 0-2 series hole.
Irving finished with just 16 points on 7/18 shooting with 2 rebounds, 6 assists. His Game 2 performance was actually an improvement from the series opener, when the 8-time All-Star scored 12 points on 6/19 shooting.
Irving has also yet to hit a three-pointer, going 0/8 through two contests thus far.
