Resigned to the villain's role in Boston, Dallas star Kyrie Irving is less concerned with silencing hostile Celtics fans than with quieting self doubt and leading the Mavs in a must-win NBA Finals game five."I think in order to silence even the self-doubt, let alone the crowd doubt, but the self-doubt when you make or miss shots, that's just as important as making sure I'm leading the team the right way and being human through this experience, too, and telling them how I feel."
Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks dominated Boston 122-84 on Friday to fend off elimination in the NBA Finals, denying the Celtics a sweep in the best-of-seven championship series.Dallas handed Boston their first road defeat of these playoffs and ended their bid for the 10th 4-0 sweep in Finals history.
Jayson Tatum has known since he was drafted by the Celtics in 2017 that the measure of success in Boston is an NBA title, but he's not chalking up championship No. 18 just yet.It was the club's second title and the first of eight straight championships.