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Kyrie Irving walks off the court after a painful loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 3 of the NBA finals. Photograph: Kevin Jairaj/USA Today Sports
Late in Game 3 of the NBA finals on Wednesday night, the Dallas Mavericks were on the brink. They had mostly clawed back a 21-point deficit to get within three points of the Boston Celtics. Then Luka Dončić, the Mavs’ superstar scorer, fouled out – the first time he’d ever done so in a playoff game.
That left Kyrie Irving, the Deadpool to Dončić’s Wolverine, to carry the day. And when he went on to score Dallas’s next four points, including an 18ft jump shot that cut the Boston lead to one, it looked as if the Mavericks might actually make this a competitive series. But it was not to be. Boston are simply too good and too tough. The result, a 106-99 Celtics victory on Dallas’s home floor, puts the Mavericks in a 0-3 series hole, a margin from which no NBA team has ever come back. And it came just when Irving, who scored a game-high 35 points, had two quiet games to start the series.
Schedule
Best-of-seven series. All times US eastern time (EDT).
Thu 6 Jun Game 1: Celtics 107, Mavericks 89
Sun 9 Jun Game 2: Celtics 105, Mavericks 98
Wed 12 Jun Game 3: Celtics 106, Mavericks 99
Fri 14 Jun Game 4: Celtics at Mavericks (8.30pm, ABC)
Mon 17 Jun Game 5: Mavericks at Celtics (8.30pm, ABC)*
Thu 20 Jun Game 6: Celtics at Mavericks (8.30pm, ABC)*
Sun 23 Jun Game 7: Mavericks at Celtics (8.pm, ABC)*
*if necessary
This NBA season has been notable for Irving’s deafening silence in the face of endless opportunities to speak his mind. Forget the wars going on around the world and the protests on US campuses. Irving kept things low-key when LeBron James, the championship-winning running mate Irving seemingly couldn’t wait to get away from, went on his podcast days before the finals to say how much he missed playing with “the most gifted player the NBA has ever seen.”
And there are signs Irving is a much better teammate these days. After Wednesday’s loss to the Celtics, his first thoughts were for Dončić.
“You just got to let it breathe a little bit,” Irving…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/0-3-nba-finals-comeback-124042202.html
Author : The Guardian
Publish date : 2024-06-13 12:40:42
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