On Friday evening, Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks staved off elimination by defeating the Boston Celtics in blowout fashion in Game 4 of the NBA Finals from Dallas. With their backs fully against the wall, Irving and costar Luka Doncic both stepped up to the plate in Game 4 with big performances, and for the first time all series, the Mavericks actually got some real help from their supporting cast en route to one of the biggest blowouts in NBA Finals history.

Of course, the Mavericks still find themselves in an uphill battle to say the very least as the series shifts back to Boston with Dallas down 3-1, having to win three more games in a row, two of which would be on the road.

Boston of course is the place where Irving once played in his career, which resulted in a bitter end to the relationship when he departed for the Brooklyn Nets during the 2019 offseason. Ever since, Irving has been booed relentlessly in his returns to the TD Garden, which has continued into this NBA Finals series, with Irving struggling mightily in Games 1 and 2 on the road.

Recently, Irving got one hundred percent honest on the origins of the beef.

“I did it to myself. They don’t welcome me with warm embraces, even though I know a lot of people in the organization, and my friends are still here,” said Irving at Sunday’s press conference, per Daniel Donabedian of ClutchPoints on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter. “…Looking back on it, definitely would have showed my respect and had more of a counsel around me from some of the Boston Celtics that came before me to explain what the pressure is like.”

Can the Mavericks do the impossible?

Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) reacts after their win against the Boston Celtics in game four of the 2024 NBA Finals at American Airlines Center.
Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Probably not. Despite the result on Friday, it’s become glaringly obvious through the first four games of this series that the Celtics are clearly the better team and have the roster most equipped to at least limit what Doncic and Irving are able to do offensively. On the other end of the floor, the Celtics have been relentlessly going at those two and punishing the Mavericks with drive and kicks until they find one of their elite three point shooters open on the perimeter.

The series did get more interesting when Kristaps Porzingis unfortunately went down with an injury in Game 2 and has yet to play in a game since, which has allowed the Mavericks to attack the rim on offense a little bit more freely than they had been able to do previously and also has limited the Celtics’ ability to stretch the floor out near half court as they can when the Latvian big man is healthy.

Still, in order for the Mavericks to get this to a Game 6, let alone start to begin to think about a Game 7, Irving will have to exercise some of the demons that clearly still exist for him within the confines of the TD Garden in Boston.