Kyrie Irving shares bold take on Celtics while discussing Finals loss

The Boston Celtics took down the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the NBA Finals, earning Banner 18 in fairly dominant fashion. After a 64-win regular season, they went 16-3 in the playoffs, and in the Finals, they shut down two of the best guards in the NBA—Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

Up to that point, Doncic and Irving had been lighting up the playoffs. It’s a big reason why they were able to get through the Western Conference. Their elite shot-making was enough to take down West favorites such as the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves. But once they were put in front of Boston, it just wasn’t enough.

And Irving explained why.

Kyrie Irving calls Celtics best defense ever

During a recent chat with the Locked On Mavericks podcast, Irving called the 2023-24 Celtics one of the best defensive teams of all time.

“It wasn’t like I could get isos every time against everybody,” Irving said. “We [were] going against one of the best defensive teams of all time, not one of the best defensive teams of just the past few seasons. That was a special group… I give credit to the Boston Celtics”

By the numbers, the Celtics weren’t even the best defensive team in the league last season. In the regular season, they had the second-best defensive rating, behind only the Minnesota Timberwolves, who Dallas beat in the conference finals.

However, there’s one big difference between the Celtics and the Timberwolves—Boston is comfortable switching everything.

Doncic and Irving make their money by attacking mismatches. Guys like Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns can’t keep up with their shiftiness, and the Mavs used that to their advantage.

Joe Mazzulla refused to switch. If the Mavs got Irving or Doncic on guys like Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Xavier Tillman, Payton Pritchard, or Sam Hauser, the Celtics lived with it.

By doing that, Doncic and Irving were forced to take tough isolation shots rather than getting to kick to an open man because Boston sent help at the matchup.

Not only did the Celtics have elite defensive personnel in the Finals, but they also had one of the best defensive game plans in recent memory, especially against a team that relied so heavily on attacking mismatches.

Heading into next season, the Celtics have the exact same rotation, meaning they should be just as comfortable living with whatever mismatches other teams think they can find. And that should mean more great things for Boston.