Kyrie Irving put the finishing touches on one of the best two-game stretches in Celtics history on Monday night, scoring a season-high 47 points on 16-of-22 shooting in Dallas on the heels of a 30-point (on 10-of-12 shooting) performance in Atlanta on Saturday.
Irving was red-hot early (17 points in first quarter) in Monday's 110-102 win over the Mavericks, but it was his work in the game's closing 12 minutes (17 points on 6-of-8 shooting) that gave the Celtics a chance at escaping with their 16th consecutive win.
Let's take a close look at the key sequences of the 13-point comeback in the final seven minutes of regulation and overtime to examine just how the 25-year-old All-Star managed to rescue the C's from what looked like a sure defeat:
3:15 left in 4th, Mavs lead 92-86: Irving takes a rebound from Al Horford and spots a streaking Jayson Tatum on the wing. The rookie somehow saves the overthrown pass and tosses it inbounds towards a hustling Marcus Smart, who manages to corral it. The gritty guard misses a layup but still outbattles two Mavericks for his own miss and tosses it towards the top of the key to a waiting Irving, as he falls out of bounds himself. The point guard swishes the wide-open 3 to cap one of the craziest hustle sequences of the Celtics season.
Marcus Smart doing Marcus Smart things ☘ pic.twitter.com/MY0jLOJllA
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 21, 2017
CLUTCH
Celtics Rewind is presented by @NissanUSA pic.twitter.com/rDM77ePPPQ
— Celtics on NBCSB (@NBCSCeltics) November 21, 2017
This guy is pretty clutch I guess pic.twitter.com/IYZZukWieL
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 21, 2017
