The Dallas Mavericks' official website published an article titled "Kyrie Irving finally breaks alleged 'curse' with victory over Celtics," so it feels like it's now canon that the Boston Celtics had a hex on the point guard for the last few years.
Irving has been unlucky since he stomped all the good luck in his ongoing battle with the Cs on May 30, 2021, after a Game 4 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals victory at the TD Garden. Irving's Brooklyn Nets finished that series, but Boston reeled off 13 straight until Game 4 of the 2024 Finals.
The point guard himself admitted there was a curse, or if nothing else, a disturbance in his game while playing the Celtics in the years since.
“It’s taken time, I tell you that,” Irving said postgame on June 14. “It’s difficult because as a competitor you try not to display all your emotions out there to give an edge. When you’re going against some of the best of the best, they’re going to use everything to their advantage. I think they’ve been able to do that. That’s why I referred to just having my number or knowing my game very well.”
Kyrie Irving has Boston Celtics befuddled in Game 4
Irving was blunt about the Celtics, specifically Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, and even Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser, the players who've been part of the entire streak, having his number before Game 4.
Then, besides some rough three-point shooting (1/6), Irving had the Celtics completely figured out as he exploited Boston's frontcourt at the rim. Perhaps Bob Cousy's bold words aimed at Irving shared with The Boston Globe ignited him, but in Game 3, something had already been awakened inside Kyrie.
Whether or not Joe Mazzulla's team has the rebuttal to contend with a Mavs duo, along with Luka Doncic, operating at peak efficiency, and it has three games to come up with one -- though shutting the door sooner than later would be appreciated by the fanbase -- is what'll dictate whether or not Banner 18 finally is raised in the TD Garden in 2024.