Kyrie Irving stirs the pot with remark about Celtics crowd

On Thursday night, the Dallas Mavericks began their quest for their second NBA Championship in the 2024 NBA Finals on the road against the Boston Celtics.

The Mavs fell short and lost Game 1 by a score of 107-89, and they looked all out of sorts compared to their Game 5 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. Outside of Luka Doncic, almost everyone struggled. Dallas' offense had no rhythm, and the Celtics were bombing threes as they shot 16-42 from downtown.

Boston's crowd is notorious for being rowdy and sometimes hostile, and one player in particular who many Celtics fans can't stand is Kyrie Irving. Irving had a rough ending to his time in Boston, and Celtics fans haven't forgotten about it yet.

Kyrie Irving says he thought the Celtics crowd 'was going to be louder'

Irving finished with 12 points while shooting 6-19 from the field and 0-5 from downtown, and there were times when it seemed like the crowd rattled him a bit. Some of his 3-point attempts looked way off, and he was making some decisions that he never makes, including dribbling the ball off his foot.

After the game, Irving talked about the Celtics crowd, and he said that he thought "it was going to be a little louder in here." This is an extremely bold statement, especially since he struggled so much, and the Celtics fans are going to use this to fuel their boos even more.

They were booing him nonstop every time that he touched the ball, and they are going to take to heart that Irving didn't think they were loud during Game 1. The Celtics fans are definitely going to see what Irving said before Game 2, and I can imagine it will be even louder at TD Garden on Sunday.

It's unclear when and if Boston fans will ever get over the rough breakup that Irving had with the Celtics, but according to what he says, he isn't worried about what they say or how loud or hostile they could be.

The Mavericks will need Irving to step up if they want to win Game 2 and even up the series before heading back to Dallas, and he must be more ready to play.

For all the latest on Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks throughout the 2024 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics.