"Pump your brakes a little bit" - Kyrie Irving comments on 'best backcourt duo' comparisons with Celtics' stars during NBA Finals

For almost the entirety of the 2024 NBA playoffs, Dallas Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic have been regarded as the best backcourt in the league. Their firepower, coupled with an unmatched synergy on the court, has led them to beat the Los Angeles Clippers, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Minnesota Timberwolves to take a spot in the NBA finals.

Irving and Doncic’s distinction has given them high expectations against the Boston Celtics, who also boost a versatile backcourt in Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, together with superstar forwards Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

Talking to Jarred Greenberg of NBA TV, Kyrie Irving appealed to temper expectations for their duo, believing that it would take time for him and Doncic to nurture at the highest level of competition.

“We enjoyed the compliments, but I also said, during that time when everybody was kind of hoopla about whether we are the greatest backcourt of all time, but pump your brake a little bit. This is going to take some time to be able to do this at the highest level,” said Irving.

Irving just came off his best game of the NBA finals so far, recording 35 points on 13-of-28 shooting from the field to outscore Luka Doncic, who had 27 points on 11-of-27 shooting.

Doncic picked up his sixth foul with over four minutes left in the fourth quarter, leaving Irving to carry the Dallas cudgels down the stretch. Doncic’s final foul squandered the Mavericks’ 22-2 run that cut the 21-point lead by the Boston Celtics.

The loss put the Mavericks on the brink of a sweep in the finals after defying the odds in the first three rounds, defeating teams that had better records than them in the regular season.

This season had been a far cry from last year, missing the playoffs entirely in Irving’s first season with the team.

After re-signing with the Mavericks in the offseason, Irving has been the secondary superstar alongside Luka Doncic as he averaged 25.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists in 56 games played in the regular season, while Doncic totaled 33.9 points, 9.8 assists, and 9.2 rebounds per game as the focal point of the team.

Kyrie Irving takes blame for lackluster play in games 1 & 2 of NBA finals

After scoring 12 and 16 points respectively, in the first two games of the NBA finals, Kyrie Irving revealed that he went to backcourt partner Luka Doncic to shoulder the blame for their losses.

"It all started with me. Just telling my hermano, I gotta play better for him alongside him and you know in order for us to accomplish our goal... just letting him know it is my fault, taking accountability for not playing particularly well," Irving said.

Irving's performance in front of the Celtics’ crowd in Games 1 and 2 was a far cry from what people typically see from him while averaging 21.9 points, and 5.1 assists in the first three rounds of this year's playoffs.

While he made up for his poor play in Game 3, Irving and the Mavericks remain winless in the series entering a pivotal Game 4.