Kyrie Irving went off on Sunday night as he led the Dallas Mavericks to a sensational 147-136 overtime victory over the Houston Rockets. The eight-time All-Star caught fire in this one as he set a new career-high scoring mark for his Mavs tenure with 48 points on 15-of-25 shooting.
After the game, the enigmatic guard had a special message for Rockets head coach Ime Udoka as well as the latter’s former team, the Boston Celtics.
Dallas Mavericks News: Kyrie Irving Remembers Ime Udoka Well
Speaking to reporters after Sunday’s victory, Irving could not help but fire a veiled shot at Udoka, who himself just watched his team officially get eliminated from Play-In contention with this loss. According to Kyrie, this win was extra sweet for him given his history with Udoka:
“I haven’t forgotten Ime Udoka’s team, Boston Celtics beat me 4-0,” Irving said, via Joey Mistretta of ClutchPoints. “… We didn’t know how to respond at that time… As a competitor I don’t forget things like that. Systems carry on with coaches… they have taken on that Ime Udoka identity.”
For those that require context, Kyrie was referring to the Celtics’ first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets, during the 2022 NBA Playoffs. At that time, Irving was still plying his trade with the Nets alongside Kevin Durant.
As Irving said, Udoka and the Celtics embarrassed the Nets in that series, 4-0.
Kyrie clearly isn’t the type who lets bygones be bygones, and he still has a score to settle with Udoka regardless of the fact that the latter is now coaching a different team. Irving definitely got the better of the Rockets shot-caller on Sunday night.
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