Bitter loss, but 'a really positive journey' for Mavericks

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BOSTON -- As the Dallas Mavericks essentially waved the white flag, substituting for all of their starters while trailing by 21 points with 2:37 remaining in Monday's Game 5, Kyrie Irving walked toward the other end of the floor to congratulate his former teammates Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, as well as other members of the Boston Celtics.

Irving returned to the bench and exchanged an embrace and a few words with his teammate Luka Doncic, a superstar wrapping up his first NBA Finals appearance.

"We said, 'we'll fight together next season, and we just going to believe,'" Doncic said after the Mavericks' 106-88 loss to the Celtics, who clinched their…