By james art 
Kairi Irving has not been absent for Celtics for more than five years after leaving Boston as a free agency in the summer of 2019, but it is obvious that he is still following his former teammates. The Star Guard had long hugs with Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown after Boston’s dominant victory with 122-107 on Saturday night at American Airlines Arena.
The rematch of the NBA finals did not live up to his expectations partly because of Luka Doncic’s absence. Irving had the highest for the team 22 points for Maverix, but could not cope with the starting five of Celtics, in which all five players scored 17 points or more for the first time throughout the year.
Boston also turned the ball only five times into the defeat, which led to superb offensive efforts for most of the last three quarters. Irving was asked about Boston’s almost flawless game after the match and whether it was a sign that they were simply at a higher level than the western conference champions.
“Or they have lost a few games and Joe Mazula has entered their games for a while and you get the result you have achieved tonight,” Irving said. “Go against us, play with enthusiasm, play with confidence and take care of the ball.
“They made adjustments and that’s what the great teams do, especially when they are champions in the League. They dealt with our pressure, adapted to the coverage of our area, began to get open blows, and from then on the game was quite easy. “
Celtics’s victory came after an ugly Likers loss on Thursday night, but finished successfully a 3-1 visit to Boston. Boston has a total of 11-10 in his last 21 games, but Irving has reduced any criticism of his defending title.
“I like mathematics because it has no emotions,” Irving told Boston’s heavy strategy for firing for 3 points. “Outside JT and JB, when these other guys deal with D-White and Jrue Holiday, this makes them special and great. Each species criticizes them on the basis of their season this year, but if you look at their first 42 games, it’s quite similar compared to last year. Maybe two years of rest. This is a well -trained basketball team. “
Celtics downloaded within 4.5 matches from the number 1 CAU to the east after the victory and are now returning to Boston for another heavy test against the name Uska and Houston Rockets on Monday night.
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