DALLAS — The last time we saw Kyrie Irving in Boston, he was agitated walking off the court, strutting with determination.
Clearly bothered — either by his performance, or the Game 2 loss, or the verbal and visual taunts hurled his way, or all of the above — Irving confined his retort for the jeering Celtics fans to a hand gesture. This time, he flashed all five digits, a proclamation he’d be back for Game 5.
If any of what we’ve heard from Irving is to be believed, his embrace of spiritual development and appreciation for the fullness of journeys, he was doing more than predicting Dallas would win a game at home. He was promising to plant that moment in his psyche, let it blossom and return with something special for the Celtics.
Now the Dallas Mavericks’ season, essentially, rests on his ability to deliver on that promise. That he would grow, and his team with him. And the Boston that hates him so would have to deal with him.
“That’s what we’ve been talking about, too, since the beginning of the series,” Irving said. “Our growth. Us trending in the right direction, figuring out how we get wins together as a group with all those external factors still going on. How do you still lock in? How do you still focus in, breathe through some of those mistakes?”
Perhaps the former life of Kyrie is talking. Whispering. Through a familiar breeze or a consuming calm. Maybe, despite his dogged attempts to nail his past to yesteryear, he even recognizes the familiarity. The desperation. The peace of having nothing to lose. The craving to mock inevitability.
His Mavericks — having avoided the humiliation of a sweep Friday by obliterating the Celtics, 122-84 — head to Boston for an expected coronation in Game 5.
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Kyrie Irving, down 3-1 again, returns to Boston for his ultimate test
