Kyrie Irving Is Playing His Best Basketball

Kyrie Irving left Cleveland on a quest to find a system. He excelled in his role as the Cavaliers’ primary isolation scorer but that was unfulfilling. He wanted to be a real point guard. He wanted to be the key to an offense, not just a flashy add-on. He wanted to run his own show.

That’s exactly what he found in Boston.

https://youtu.be/JrzU-yUo8nE

The second Kyrie first put on that #11 jersey with CELTICS splattered across the chest, the Celtics became his show. Brad Stevens handed over the reigns and let the 25-year-old flourish. He’s showed off the handle. He’s put the ball in the bucket. He reached heights as a distributor which his detractors thought he’d never be able to. And as his teammates rode the rollercoaster of success and struggle, he’s remained dominant.

Well, at least I thought he was dominant.

During the NBA’s All-Star break, Kyrie let it be known that he could do more — that he had to do more for the C’s to meet their lofty potential.

“Teams are raising their level,” he said. “I have to figure out a way to get group to another gear.”

But realistically what more could Kyrie do? After Gordon Hayward broke his leg five minutes into the season, the general sentiment was that the Celtics were playing with house money. Anything anyone on the team did was a step in the right direction, not a step towards a championship. Irving’s 24.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 5 assists on 48.6% from the field, 39.7% from three, and 88.8% from the charity stripe felt like more than enough in a development year.

Not for Kyrie, though.

Kyrie knew he could get to another level.

Kyrie was right.

Kyrie Irving before the All-Star break: "I have to figure out a way to get this group to another gear.”

Kyrie, including tonight, in 4 games since the All-Star break:

27.0 PTS (108 in 114 min)
53.8 FG% (39 of 67)
52.3 3PT% (19 of 35)
6.0 AST
6.0 REB
1.0 STL
1.5 TO
28.5 MPG

— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) March 1, 2018

In four games since the All-Star break, Irving averaged 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists on 58.2% from the field, 54.3% from three and 91.7% at the line. Those numbers are impressive enough by themselves but look even better when contextualized.

Because the Celtics killed each team they played since the break, Kyrie only played 28.5 minutes per game, four fewer than he usually would. This means that, while his time on the court decreased, his production increased. In the words of Uncle Chaps, that’s…

But there’s more to it than numbers.

The player we’re seeing right now might be the best version of Kyrie Irving we’ve ever seen. Obviously he hasn’t hit the soaring peaks he did in Cleveland, but he’s been more of a complete player than he ever was while wearing wine & gold.

His play in Boston is contagious. During this four game stretch, the Celtics posted both the second best OffRTG (119.5) and NetRTG (15.1) in the NBA. Jaylen Brown is transforming into one of the best wings in the Eastern Conference. Jayson Tatum is working out the kinks of playing 82 games as a 20-year-old. Marcus Smart is back flying around the hardwood. Obviously everything can’t be attributed to Irving but it’d be foolish to act as if he isn’t the driving force in Boston.

https://youtu.be/davjoKH2Ouk

This might be wishful thinking, and possibly delusional, but what we’re seeing from Kyrie this season reminds me of 2014-2015 Stephen Curry.

Steph won MVP that season, something Kyrie will not do this year, but the stats are clearly similar, and the feeling I have watching Irving right now is, too.

The Celtics don’t play the same sporadic type of basketball the ‘14-15 Warriors did but Kyrie controls the game the way Curry did that year. He sprints with the ball in transition, creating opportunities for he and his teammates alike. He’ll shoot from anywhere on the floor or finesse his way to the rim. He can score 30 whenever he wants but (mostly) always looks to get everyone involved.

I can’t completely commit to saying that he is playing as well as MVP-level Steph but I’m almost there. The way he’s playing gives me butterflies. In just a couple of months, he unlocked a level within himself I’d been waiting to see for years. At least ten times per day I find myself either 1.) daydreaming about a play or two he made the night before or 2.) drooling about how close he is to joining the vaunted 50/40/90 club.

https://youtu.be/eOocjj7Wiik

This version of Kyrie Irving is exactly the one Danny Ainge traded for. This version of Kyrie Irving is the reason Ainge traded the most beloved Celtics of the 2010s. This version of Kyrie Irving is the reason games like Saturday night’s in Houston don’t scare Celtics fans. And if he keeps this pace for the next couple of years, this version of Kyrie Irving will be the reason an eighteenth championship banner hangs in Boston.

Written by Taylor McCloud