"Doc Rivers of players"- NBA fans roast Kyrie Irving as intriguing stat shows he scored 99 points on 99 FG attempts  in finals

Kyrie Irving had a forgettable 2024 NBA Finals. His struggles against his former team, the Boston Celtics, played a part in the Dallas Mavericks' chances of winning the championship round. Irving had no way around Boston's defense as he returned with inefficient shooting splits.

He averaged 19.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists on a 41/28/100 clip in the five-game series. Irving had averaged 22.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.2 assists on 48.5% shooting, including 42.1% from 3 before the finals in 17 games. It's clear that the Celtics caused his failures in the penultimate round with their defensive adjustments.

Irving was relentlessly critiqued for not showing up in the finals, especially on the road, where fans seemingly got into his head. A new statistic emerged on NBA Reddit, showing Irving had 99 points on 99 shots in the finals.

Fans on Reddit didn't let the dynamic guard live it down, as one Reddit user wrote he was an equivalent of Bucks coach Doc Rivers among players.

"The Doc Rivers of players."

Rivers has been the butt of jokes because outside of his 2008 championship win. He has not achieved much success in the postseason, making only one conference finals appearance after that. However, he's widely regarded as a successful coach.

One fan aimed a sarcastic dig at Irving, saying:

"You seen how deep his bag is tho right?"

Another pointed out how the finals series turned out more about Jrue Holiday and Derrick White's excellence over the hyped-up potential of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

"They told us we were seeing the greatest offensive backcourt in NBA history, but we actually were watching the greatest defensive backcourt."

One fan joked:

"Boston is Kyrie Irving father"

Comment byu/Delusional_Lynchpin- from discussion innba

Comment byu/Delusional_Lynchpin- from discussion innba

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Kyrie Irving's struggles were more about Celtics' adjustment

Nobody gave the Dallas Mavericks a legitimate shot to make the NBA Finals this past season. Kyrie Irving, in particular, wasn't deemed as reliable. However, the 31-year-old showed how mature he has become, especially during the playoffs. He was excellent as a leader and a second option to do just enough when Luka Doncic initially struggled.

Not much translated into the finals, but Irving wasn't solely responsible. Boston thrived defensively because of its schemes that didn't just limit Irving but Doncic and the rest of the starters. The Celtics' took away the Mavericks' drive-and-kick game and pick-and-roll heavy offense with their talent and versatility, which the Mavericks hadn't faced before.

Before that series, Irving and Doncic got enough support from their wings and bigs, as the teams they faced before weren't that sound defensively all across the board. If the Mavericks somehow had more talent and a legitimate third scorer, it could improve Irving's output against a solid defensive unit like Boston.