The NBA Finals series between the Mavericks and Celtics features several major storylines, but few are bigger than Kyrie Irving facing his former team.
One of three former NBA champions to enter this year's series, Irving has more Finals experience than any other player taking the floor.
Yet despite the heroics he's put forth throughout Dallas' playoff run, Irving has not been the best version of himself in the first two games. And now his team faces a 2-0 deficit in the championship series.
The biggest takeaway: The 32-year-old point guard must be better for the Mavericks to have a chance to win the series. Here's a deeper look inside Irving's struggles to open the NBA Finals.
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Kyrie Irving NBA Finals stats vs. Celtics
Here's a look at Irving's numbers through Games 1 and 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals and how they compare to his performance in the rest of the postseason.
| 2024 NBA Finals | 2024 NBA Playoffs | |
| Games | 2 | 17 |
| MPG | 39.0 | 40.3 |
| PPG | 14.0 | 22.8 |
| RPG | 2.5 | 3.9 |
| APG | 4.0 | 5.2 |
| TO/G | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| FG% | 35.1 | 48.5 |
| 3FG% | 0.0 | 42.1 |
| FT% | 100.0 | 82.8 |
Through two NBA Finals games, Irving has missed all eight of his 3-point attempts and is shooting just 35.1% from the field . It is a sharp decline in efficiency for Irving, who connected on 2.6 3-pointers per game at a 42.1% clip through the first three rounds.
In the Finals, Irving has been defended by All-Defensive guards Jrue Holiday and Derrick White more than anyone else, according to NBA.com's matchup data. Irving has also been guarded by another set of staunch defenders in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
As gifted as Irving is offensively, buckets are extremely hard to come by against those players, who each play key roles in one of the league's strongest defenses. This was evident in Game 1, where Irving went 3-of-9 from the field in the first half and 6-of-19 for the game.
Look how hard he had to work for his first basket of the night.
In Game 2, Irving appeared to settle in, scoring 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting in the first half.
The second half wasn't as kind. Boston's defense held Irving to six points on 2-of-8 shooting, though he did manage to dish out another three assists to bring his total to six in the game. This possession shows just how hard he had to work to try to get to his spots.
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Why is Kyrie Irving struggling vs. Celtics?
After Game 2, Irving was transparent about his shortcomings.
"A lot of shots were hitting the back rim," Irving said. "That could piss you off as a competitor, but it's all part of the game of basketball. And you have to accept the ups and downs of this.
"That's — I would say — the toughest challenge when you're in a series. You want to play extremely well, especially when you're playing in a Finals."
Irving lamented the fact that he was unable to convert opportunities in the lane while crediting the defense of Brown, Holiday and White specifically.
Most notably, Irving acknowledged Boston's focus on pushing him to his left hand, which he will look to counter as the series progresses.
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Kyrie Irving NBA Finals stats: 2016 vs. 2024
Irving was a member of the 2016 Cavaliers — one of five teams in NBA history to overcome a 2-0 series deficit to win the NBA Finals. The parallels begin with the series deficit and go deeper when analyzing Irving's struggles to start each series.
| 2016 NBA Finals | 2024 NBA Finals | |
| Games | 2 | 2 |
| MPG | 35.4 | 39.0 |
| PPG | 18.0 | 14.0 |
| RPG | 3.0 | 2.5 |
| APG | 2.5 | 4.0 |
| TO/G | 3.0 | 2.5 |
| FG% | 33.3 | 35.1 |
| 3FG% | 14.3 | 0.0 |
| FT% | 91.7 | 100.0 |
In 2016, Irving was able to bounce back to deliver several incredible performances. In Games 3 through 5, Irving turned in games of 30, 34 and 41 points and in Game 7, Irving sank a triple to put Cleveland ahead for good and help clinch the series.
Fast-forward eight years, and Irving has admitted he'll look to lean on his experiences from that series.
"Being in the Finals before, down 0-2, I have a little experience in this," Irving said. "Didn't play particularly well in the first two games in that series, too, that I'm referring to.
"So now I'm just really leaning in on what I've experienced, what I've learned and some of the lessons I've been able to make sense of in how to come back in this series because it is going to be a possession-by-possession thing, and it is going to be the hardest thing that we've ever done."
