Kyrie Irving averaged just 15 points and was held to single digits twice in the Dallas Mavericks’ second-round series vs. the Thunder. Dallas still won in six games, but the Celtics are not the Thunder. They are much too powerful offensively, particularly with Kristaps Porzingis back, for Dallas to have a chance of winning this series with Irving putting up anything close to the 12 points he contributed in Game 1.
It really is that simple.
Still, that doesn’t mean Irving turning in a big scoring night in Game 2 will actually be simple. We love to throw around the idea that superstars can simply decide when and where to take over a game, but defenses do have a say in the matter. The Thunder guarded Irving with Jalen Williams and had a stable of credible perimeter defenders ready to assist on switches. He might have been a bit passive, but it wasn’t like he was consistently passing up open invitations to score.
The Celtics stuck Irving with Jrue Holiday, who is still the best on-ball defender in the world, and I don’t care what anyone has to say about Jalen Suggs or Jaden McDaniels or Herb Jones or Mikal Bridges or anyone else. Boston is also outfitted with a star-studded lineup of ready-made switchers.
In Game 1, Irving had one-on-one shots thwarted by everyone from Al Horford to Sam Hauser. He dribbled off his foot against Derrick White. He passed a ball straight out of bounds. He missed wide-open 3s and a handful of pull-up jumpers that are usually automatic. Holiday made him airball one long, which fortunately turned into an accidental lob for Dereck Lively, which would qualify as the only one of those the Mavericks converted. Irving scored just four points after the 11-minute mark of the second quarter.
One of the main issues, if not the main issue, was Boston’s collective decision, and ability, to credibly cover Luka Doncic with a single defender. This allowed Boston’s peripheral defenders to stay home on the likes of Irving, who typically has opportunities to create against shifting defenses that have sold out to…
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