The young Boston Celtics are 9-2 so far on the season when they are without the veteran leadership of superstar Kyrie Irving. Without Irving, though, they do not even have a shot at getting to the NBA Finals, let alone winning a title.
The Boston Celtics have a fairly loaded roster, top to bottom. They may not be as top-heavy as the defending champion Golden State Warriors or even newly rebranded Philadelphia 76ers, but they have the right mix of star power, role players and positional depth to compete with anybody in this league.
Boston’s well-balanced roster is the primary reason it can win any given game, even when it’s handicapped. The Celtics have gone through stretches this season without Kyrie Irving, Al Horford and Jaylen Brown, and plenty of their role players have suffered bumps and bruises along the way.
What has been particularly speculated on by both media and fans alike, however, has been their play without their superstar and leader, Kyrie Irving.
It is completely true and fair to point out that they have gone 9-2 without Irving to this point in the season, and Feb. 12’s win against Philly was about as convincing as a win can get.
However, this does not mean that as a group they’re better off giving Terry Rozier the keys to offense and letting “team play” dictate Boston Celtics games. Kyrie, being a point guard — even though he is one of the most gifted scorers in the league — has the primary role of running the offense for the Celtics, acting as the primary playmaker for the first unit. Kyrie Irving is a team player, and this season, he has gone above and beyond to prove that.
Danny Ainge on the notion the Celtics are better without Kyrie Irving, on @Toucherandrich: "It's completely illogical. It makes no sense."
— Boston.com Celtics News (@BDCCeltics) February 14, 2019
There is plenty more to basketball than stats, but assists per game is a solid indicator on how well a point guard does running a productive offense. The 2018-19 season has seen Irving elevate his game as a playmaker, averaging 6.9 assists per game, good for the best mark of his career and 10th in the league.
While on the floor, Irving has an assist percentage 15.4 percent points higher than the next-closest Celtic, Al Horford (20.4 percent).
In usage percentages, Kyrie Irving ranks just 19th among players who have logged at least 1,000 minutes of play at 29.5 percent, sandwiched between disgruntled star Anthony Davis and rookie Luka Doncic.
If Irving is making plays for his teammates at a higher rate than ever before, and is (comparatively to the other superstars) not a ball hog, how could he be holding his team back?
In Value Over Replacement Player, Irving is ranked 12th in the league at 3.4, one spot below positional rival and heralded team player Stephen Curry, and two above former teammate LeBron James.
In defensive win shares, Kyrie Irving ranks higher than teammate Al Horford, fellow point guards Mike Conley and Kyle Lowry, and known defensive stoppers Danny Green, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green.
This is not to say that he is individually a better defender than any of those guys, but the antiquated notion that he is a bum on defense is played out and simply inaccurate at this point in his career.
It’s no surprise to anyone that Kyrie Irving has the standard stats to back up his claim to superstardom, though the advanced stats will tell you there is a very small faction of players in this league that are more valuable to their team than Irving.
Looking to the Boston Celtics sans Kyrie Irving, there is no denying they have been impressive.
That group’s signature victory, Feb. 12 in Philadelphia, was much more a testament to the Celtics’ depth and the play of some veteran guys rather than a simple change in point guard, though. That game saw Gordon Hayward return to his Utah Jazz self, going for 26 points and a plus/minus of +11, along with Al Horford (who might be the most important player on the floor against this team) putting up a stat line of 23-8-5 while playing some key defense on Joel Embiid.
Irving’s replacement that game, Terry Rozier, finished with five points in 31 minutes and was a -1.
All the teams Boston Celtics have played this season without Kyrie Irving, which include two games each against the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers, combine for a record of 242-274.
Of the nine separate teams, six rank in the bottom half of the league in defensive rating. Cleveland, who the Boston Celtics played twice without Irving, is dead last by a considerable margin.
Boston, which is lead by a heavily lauded coach for his ability to squeeze a lot out of a little, takes advantage of weak defenses when they miss Irving’s offensive presence and get roughly equal value on defense from Terry Rozier.
It is Boston’s depth that allows the team to compete without its star. However, it’s not that the Celtics flourish without him; they just have the ability to keep their heads above water. Everyone realizes that with their roller coaster of a season, they really can not lose games they are supposed to win when Irving sits.
Last postseason was an anomaly. The Boston Celtics will not play another Eastern Conference playoff with that weak of a lineup. The Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo have seriously upgraded, as has Philadelphia. LeBron may be gone, but a three-headed monster has appeared in his place in the form of Philly, Milwaukee and the Toronto Raptors.
The Celtics need Kyrie Irving, desperately, if they hope to get to the NBA Finals this year. They may have been able to skate by on the excellent play of their young guys (and big Al) last postseason, but to make it to the final stage, Irving has to play.