Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving is no stranger to shining under the bright lights of the NBA Playoffs. In fact, the biggest moment of his career to this point has been “The Shot,” a three-point attempt he made over Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals to help the Cleveland Cavaliers attain their first NBA championship in franchise history.
For what seems like the entirety of his career, Irving has been one of the most dominant players in the clutch.
Wednesday night’s matchup against the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 provided fans with another spectacle of Irving’s late game greatness, with “Uncle Drew” scoring nine points in the final seven minutes of the game — including eight consecutive points — to get the Celtics back into a game that started to get out of hand in the third quarter (Irving would score eight points in the third quarter).
His late game performance likely saved Boston from losing their homecourt advantage against the Pacers.
On Friday, Irving was asked about his play in crunch-time, simply saying that he’s “just always been really great at it.”
“It’s a new chance, a new day to prove myself,” Irving continues. “All that other stuff really doesn’t matter when you’re out there on the floor. You’ve gotta go out and show it again. So that’s, I think, what I relish in.”
Per NBA Advanced Stats, among players who played in more than one regular season game in the “clutch” (defined as the last five minutes of a game with a point differential of five points or less), Irving held the fifth-highest scoring average (4.3 points per game) this season while shooting a blistering 49.6 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from deep.
Last season, Irving averaged the fourth-highest scoring average (4.2 points per game) in the “clutch” among players with more than three games in said situation. In 2016-17, Irving tied for 10th among players who played at least two games in the “clutch” with 3.5 points per game.
The conclusion? Even the numbers show that Irving has been one of the most dynamic clutch players in the league.
When the Celtics were challenging LeBron and the Cavs in the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals, they needed a player with Irving’s stupendous skill in the fourth quarter, with both teams going into a shooting funk and pressing for points. Able to create a shot against any defender and having practiced a variety of releases from a wide array of levels, Irving is one of the most elite scorers in the NBA and he can’t be stopped, only slowed down.
This time around, they’ll have Irving and all the benefits of having a player who can be one of the league’s most indomitable forces in any given quarter or game. With the Eastern Conference wide open for a new franchise (or superstar) to reign supreme, Boston has to feel great about their chances of going the distance with Irving leading the way.
