Kyrie Irving calls out Celtics fans after Mavericks’ Game 1 loss

When asked on Wednesday ahead of Game 1 about returning to Boston and facing the Celtics - and their fans - in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Kyrie Irving downplayed the impact the crowd would have on him.

"There’s no fear out here, man. It’s basketball," Irving told reporters at NBA Finals media day. "The fans are going to say what they’re going to say.”

Given his comments just over 24 hours later after Game 1, it seems like the fans may not have said enough for Kyrie's liking.

"I thought it was going to be a little louder in here," Irving said postgame, before adding "but I'm expecting the same things going into Game 2. [The] crowd trying to get me out of my element, my teammates out of my element."

On the surface it's not the most animus line, but coming from Irving - given his history with Celtics fans - it holds a little more weight. "Being in this environment, I'm used to it at this point," Irving highlighted. "Early in my career, there was a different relationship that I had with Boston and just being able to come here, be settled with a veteran group. Now I'm here as a veteran, over the past few years, just experiencing the playoffs here, even regular season, it's been the same thing."

Plus, the general consensus of those at the game was that the TD Garden environment seemed excellent on Thursday night. The crowd put there focus on Irving specifically too, booing him in unison whenever he touched the basketball (perhaps he was disappointed that the first 'Kyrie sucks!' chant didn't come until the second half).

Based on his play, something clearly got to Irving in Game 1 - whether it was the crowd, his former teammates, the stage of the NBA Finals, or something else. He has one of his least-productive games of the playoffs so far scoring just 12 points on 6-of-19 shooting, including an 0-of-5 mark from deep.

Perhaps even more damaging that his lack of scoring was Irving's lack of creating and playmaking. One of the Mavericks top playmakers who head coach Jason Kidd called a "quarterback" before the game, Irving finished with just two assists (a single-game low in these playoffs) and three turnovers. He was a team-worst minus-19 for the game.

Irving has now lost his last 11 head-to-head matchups with the Celtics, with the sample size there becoming more and more consistent. He'll likely have a tougher time in Game 2, with his comments sure to rile up the Sunday evening crowd.

Tip-off for Game 2 is set for 8:00 p.m. ET on Sunday. Pregame coverage begins at 7:00 on 98.5 The Sports Hub and the BetMGM Celtics Radio Network.

Keep reading for more on the Celtics Game 1 win...

Finally the NBA Finals have started, on Thursday night at the Garden the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks faced off in game 1 of the NBA Finals. Boston heads into game 1 with a dominating 12-2 record in the postseason as the #1 seed in the entire NBA. While Dallas the #5 seed in the Western Conference has surprised some fans by getting this far but has looked very impressive doing so. Will Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving be able to keep their magic going against the high powered Celtics roster and make a series out of the Finals? The big news coming out of pregame was that Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis would not be on a minutes restriction after missing the last few weeks with a calf strain, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla wouldn't comment on whether he was going to start or not but this was good news for Celtics fans heading into the start of the series.

Celtics fans would learn 30 minutes before tip off that Kristaps Porzingis would come off the bench in game 1 and Al Horford would stay in the starting lineup as he was in Porzingis' absence. The Celtics would win the tip and get a big dunk from Al Horford to start the NBA Finals. Luka Doncic would hit his first jumper of the night to tie the game at 5 with 10:45 to go in the first quarter. The Mavericks would start the game 2-2 from the field while Boston struggled a little early shooting 2-7 to start the game after a few offensive rebounds.

Kristaps Porzingis would make his NBA Finals debut 5 minutes into the game coming in for Al Horford with Dallas leading 13-12. Derrick White would make his impact early hitting back to back 3's to give Boston a 20-15 lead with 5:55 to go in the first. Porzingis would get his first points off the night off a pair of free throws, drawing a foul on Luka Doncic giving Boston a 22-15 lead.

Porzingis would really make his presence known after hitting back to back buckets to give Boston their first double digit lead of the game 28-18 with 2:20 to go in the quarter. Jayson Tatum who was quiet for most of the first quarter would hit a 3 pointer with 1:37 to go to give Boston a 31-20 lead. Boston would continue to take advantage of their mismatches offensively hitting multiple 3's and getting huge blocks from Porzingis to end the quarter leading 37-20 at the end of one. Boston went on a 23-5 run to end the quarter led by Porzingis on both ends.

Boston entered the second quarter leading by 17 with Tatum and Brown only scoring 7 points in the first quarter a great sign for the Celtics. Boston would stay hot from deep with Sam Hauser hitting his second 3-pointer of the night to extend Boston's lead to 42-24 with 10:19 to go in the half. Porzingis would continue to be all over the place in game one hitting back to back jumpers to give him 15 points to go along with 3 rebounds and two blocks with 6:29 to go in the half and extending the Celtics lead to 48-27.

Dallas would try and slow the game down halfway through the second to try and cut into Boston's lead but Boston's defense was ready for the challenge early in this one. Jaylen Brown would hit a 3-pointer then get a breakaway dunk off a steal to give Boston a 53-29 lead with 5:01 to go in the half and it was all Celtics in the first half. Dallas would chip away a little at the Boston lead at the end of the quarter but did they already dig themselves too big of a hole? Dallas would cut Boston's lead to 63-42 at the half after a Doncic 3 pointer late in the quarter. 

Dallas would continue to try and chip away at the Boston lead early in the third quarter getting it to 18 10:06 left in the quarter. Boston would come out of the half a little slow on both ends letting Dallas back into the game early with a couple bad turnovers and missed defensive assignments. The Mavericks would force Joe Mazzulla to call a timeout with 7:43 left in the quarter after PJ Washington hit a jumper to cut Boston's lead to 68-52. Jayson Tatum's NBA Finals turnover issues reared their ugly head again in the third quarter as he was up to six and a big reason why Dallas was chipping away at the lead. 

Luka Doncic would start to catch fire in the third quarter as he was up to 24 points after a tough jumper to make Boston's lead 72-59 with 5:33 to go in the third. Doncic would stay hot hitting another 3 pointer to make it a single digit lead for Boston for the first time since the first quarter. Boston would start to settle down a little as the quarter went on a Jayson Tatum offensive rebound led to an easy Porzingis dunk then Jaylen Brown would get fouled after a Celtics defensive stop to slow down Dallas' momentum. Boston would go back up 77-64 with 2:44 to go in the third after a pair of Jaylen free throws. Tatum who was making his impact felt everywhere but the offensive end would hit a 3 pointer to cap off a Celtics 8-0 run to extend the lead back up to 16, 80-64 with 1:51 to go in the quarter. 

Jaylen Brown would continue his great performance in game 1 hitting back to back massive buckets after a block at the rim on the other end to cap off a 14-0 Celtics run. Boston looked lost for most of the quarter but Brown, Porzingis, Horford and Tatum showed up huge late in the third to get the Celtics headed back in the right direction. Boston would head to the 4th leading by 20 points again 86-66 looking to take a decisive 1-0 series lead. 

Jaylen would continue to stay hot early in the fourth hitting the first basket of the quarter trying to leave no doubt in the Celtics lead. The teams would trade blows early in the fourth but with Boston leading by 20 to start the quarter Dallas would need to do a lot more than just trade baskets with Boston. Derrick White would hit a layup with 8:34 to go in the game to extend Boston's lead back up to 21. Dallas' defense wasn't getting enough stops to cut into Boston's lead, the teams would continue to trade baskets throughout the quarter with an Al Horford layup after a Tatum offensive rebound would put Boston up 96-75 with 6:09 to go. 

Jrue Holiday one of the big offseason acquisitions by Celtics GM Brad Stevens was making his impact felt on both ends all night, as he'd hit a 3 pointer to make it 99-75 with 5:28 to go in the game and Boston getting closer to that ever important 1-0 series lead. Boston wouldn't let up as the quarter went on leading by 20 for most of the 4th, Jason Kidd would basically wave the white flag with 5 minutes to go taking Irving and Doncic out of the game as the Mavericks couldn't get any closer. Boston would continue to do everything right in the fourth going up 105-84 with 1:49 to go coasting to a 1-0 series lead with game 2 set for Sunday night at the Garden. The Celtics would go on to win by 107-89 dominating for large stretches of the game and making it look easy at times, if Dallas is going to rebound in game 2 their defense is going to need to make massive adjustments.