Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic <\/p>\n
BOSTON \u2014 In retrospect, Kyrie Irving said he should\u2019ve bowed to the banners and the leprechaun.<\/p>\n
Now, he\u2019s the enemy needing a miracle to prevent Celtics championship No. 18.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to show your respect here. I think that\u2019s what I struggled with initially, was figuring out how I\u2019m going to be a great player here while winning championships and also leading a team and selflessly joining the Celtics\u2019 organization, or the cult that they have here,\u201d Irving said ahead of Monday\u2019s Game 5, with his Mavericks in a 3-1 series hole. \u201cThat\u2019s what they expect you to do as a player. They expect you to seamlessly buy into the Celtics\u2019 pride, buy into everything Celtics. And if you don\u2019t, then you\u2019ll be outed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m one of the people that\u2019s on the outs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the outs\u201d is an understatement from Irving, who has been more like Satan to Celtics fans after leaving the franchise in free agency in 2019. <\/p>\n
More recently, Irving acknowledged he didn\u2019t handle his two-season tenure well while dealing with personal problems, most notably the death of his grandfather.<\/p>\n
But there hasn\u2019t been much forgiveness from the Celtics faithful. <\/p>\n
He\u2019s been booed at every appearance inside TD Garden since bolting for the Nets, and their revenge is the record. <\/p>\n
Before Dallas won Game 4 to avoid an NBA Finals sweep, Irving\u2019s teams had lost 13 straight games to the Celtics.<\/p>\n
He hasn\u2019t won at TD Garden in over three years. <\/p>\n
His first two games in the NBA Finals \u2014 both in Boston \u2014 were a disaster for Irving, who shot 35 percent and averaged just 14 points. <\/p>\n
It bolstered the belief that Irving is crumbling under the vitriol. Irving was much better in the two games in Dallas, where he averaged 28 points.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, let\u2019s just call it what it is,\u201d Irving said. \u201cWhen the fans are cheering, \u2018Kyrie sucks,\u2019 they feel like they have a psychological edge, and that\u2019s fair. Of course, if I\u2019m not making shots or turning the ball over, that makes it even more of a pressing issue that they can stay on me for.\u201d<\/p>\n
From Boston\u2019s perspective, clinching a title at home against Irving would feel like karmic retribution: The final \u2014 and most important \u2014 victory over the player that spurned the Celtics and once stepped on the leprechaun logo at midcourt.<\/p>\n
It also would break a 16-year Celtics championship drought and give the franchise a record-breaking 18th title, breaking a tie with the Lakers.<\/p>\n
Even after being trounced by 38 points in Friday\u2019s Game 4, Boston is heavily favored to win Monday and pop champagne. <\/p>\n
The Celtics haven\u2019t lost at home since May 9.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what we all work for,\u201d said Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, the front-runner for NBA Finals MVP. \u201cWe are at the precipice of completing what we set out to do at the beginning of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I think it\u2019s not difficult to get everybody in that locker room on the same page right now. It just needs to remind everybody that it\u2019s just one possession at a time. We do it together and we fight like our lives depend on it, and I think we\u2019ll be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winning a championship and eliminating Irving on the same night in Boston is firmly on the table. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a Celtics fan\u2019s dream. Or the next step of a nightmare if the Mavericks somehow win the next three games.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be special,\u201d Celtics center Al Horford said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be special [Monday]. It\u2019s going to be electric. The fans, they\u2019ve wanted to be a part of an opportunity and game of this magnitude with a chance that we have in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic BOSTON \u2014 In retrospect, Kyrie Irving said he should\u2019ve bowed to the banners and the leprechaun. Now, he\u2019s the enemy needing a miracle to prevent Celtics championship No. 18. \u201cYou have to show your respect here. I think that\u2019s what I struggled with initially,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-127611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127611"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127613,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127611\/revisions\/127613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}