Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks are taking on the favored Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, which get underway on Thursday night.
As we ramp up to Game 1, NBA commentator and former sharpshooter Jamal Crawford had a bold prediction for the Mavericks’ star guard, while appearing on the ‘Bully Ball’ podcast.
“He’s definitely going to average 25 [points per game]. He’s saging, he’s playing Sade on the way to the gym, he’s averaging 25 in that place., he’s gotta average 25 for [the Mavericks] to win, and I think he knows that.
So far in his 17 playoff games for the Mavericks this season, Irving has averaged 22.8 points per game, to go along with 3.9 rebounds and 5.2 assists. He’s also shot better than 42 percent from beyond the 3-point line in that span.
That follows an impressive regular season where Kyrie dropped more than 25 points per game in making up half of the best offensive backcourt in the NBA – certainly this season and probably among the list of best backcourts in NBA history.
Crawford thinks Mavericks-Celtics means more to Kyrie Irving
Crawford went a step further when talking about Kyrie Irving’s thoughts on this series between the Mavericks and Celtics.
Said Crawford, “If Dallas wins this series, I think this championship can mean more to Kyrie than the one he got in Cleveland.”
After everything that Irving has been through over the last several years, whether self-inflicted or not, it makes sense that coming back and winning a championship would be all the sweeter, especially against the Celtics – his former team whose fans immediately turned on him when he signed with the Nets in the summer of 2019.
It’s been a rocky last several years for Irving. After making it sound like he would re-sign with the Celtics, Irving forced his way out and joined Kevin Durant and James Harden with the Brooklyn Nets. Due to injury and Irving’s unwillingness to get vaccinated for Covid-19, the trio only managed to play a handful of games together before Harden forced his way to the Philadelphia 76ers.
As the team broke up, the Nets shipped Irving to the Mavericks in a deal that was widely panned around the NBA as one that could potentially cause enough problems to upset star Luka Doncic should Irving continue to be a perceived distraction.
Now, Irving and the Mavericks are getting the last laugh, as the team sits just four wins away from an NBA Championship.
