Kyrie Irving has turned into far more than an elite scorer for Celtics

The book on Kyrie Irving when he arrived in Boston 16 months ago was an offensive stud who was primarily considered a one-way player. He coasted on the defensive end while teaming with LeBron James on a Cavs squad where defense simply was not a priority during the regular season. It wasn’t needed on most nights and there wasn’t any sense of accountability demanded from Cleveland's coaching staff for Irving over an 82-game grind. He had shown he could step it up when needed (i.e. 2016 NBA Finals) but it’s not something that could be counted on for a nightly basis. Plenty of mystery swirled about what the C's could ultimately get out of him in this area for a more defensive-minded group.

While Irving's defensive capabilities have been questioned here, there’s always been little doubt Irving was a capable No. 1 scoring option for a contender. It’s something he proved yet again with a 40-point masterpiece against the Sixers in a 121-114 overtime victory on Christmas night. Irving scored 23 points in the first half, hit the game-tying shot in regulation and then iced the win with two straight 3s in the final two minutes of overtime. We’ve seen this a lot from the All-Star and almost have come to expect it. His teammates at least do.

“I'm about used to it now,” Marcus Morris said. “When he first came, it was crazy. But some of the shit don't even surprise me no more with how often he does it, you know what I'm saying?”

Still, the bigger takeaway from Irving’s performance does not come from the points column and it isn’t an isolated development either. The 26-year-old is getting his hands dirty for this team on a nightly basis and it’s helping propel this group to crucial wins in the midst of struggles throughout other parts of the roster.

In the process of putting together one of the most efficient scoring seasons of his career (shooting 41 percent from 3-point range), Irving is managing to raise the level of every other aspect of his game while maintaining his usual scoring punch. Currently, he’s on pace to set career-highs in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks per 36 minutes played, many of which by significant margins. He is essentially giving the game what it needs on any given night, and that continued against the Sixers on Tuesday night.

Philadelphia entered the game as one of the best rebounding teams in the league and the Celtics were without Aron Baynes to help combat this issue. With the likes of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Wilson Chandler crashing the glass up front, the C’s looked like a vulnerable group. Instead, they held their own (the Sixers grabbed just nine offensive boards) and Irving was one of the biggest reasons why.

The All-Star grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds, just one shy of his career-high, making him the first Celtic in 13 years (Paul Pierce in 2005) to post 40 points and 10 rebounds in one game. At 6-foot-3, that’s no small feat for a guy who also took 33 field goal attempts on the night, yet it’s indicative of the work Irving has been doing all year. He’s grabbed eight or more boards in five games this year, including three of the last five overall. His rebounding rate is higher than bigger and more athletic players such as Jaylen Brown and Semi Ojeleye. With Boston going smaller more often than ever with Al Horford at the 5 this year, these kinds of contributions matter.

On Tuesday night, it wasn’t just Irving’s work on the defensive glass that stood out though. The point guard got his hands dirty, making plays that resembled something that Marcus Smart would be doing during crunch time. Irving’s four offensive rebounds were a career-high and nearly all of them came in high traffic situations.

Watch the extra effort he puts into this one in the first quarter. He crashes once, doesn’t get it, sneaks back in from the baseline and gets inside a surprised Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons for an easy finish.



Later in the first quarter, he takes advantage of a smaller TJ McConnell to get position for a longer rebound



His best work was saved for overtime though. After knocking down a pair of 3s to give the Celtics a four-point lead, he grabs a crucial board in between four bodies that allows the C’s to burn another 14 seconds off the clock in the midst of a 13-1 game-clinching run.



These types of play won’t get as much acclaim as the pull-up 3s or impossible fadeaways but they can be just as crucial to winning night in and night out over the course of the regular season. The Irving we saw in Cleveland wouldn’t be engaged enough to pile up rebounds on a night he had it going offensively. The one we are seeing this season is buying in on the fact that this type of effort is needed to get this team to a championship level.

“I think now I’m in a different place, just with my journey,” Irving said after the game on his performance. “I wouldn't say that I would compare it to whether or not I came here for this moment, for these type of games, because they’re just regular-season games.

I think, going through what we’re going through, and learning every single day and being in the particular role that I’m in now and learning every single game, having a coaching staff that’s so detail oriented and making sure that we’re teaching one another and doing the right things every single day, that’s where I’m at is the preparation part and just seeing the evolution of where this team is now, and then where we can be.”

The fact that Irving is not only buying into this mindset but producing at a higher level across the board when applying himself is a promising sign for the future of this group. Being the best player on a championship team is a tall task and usually requires said player to do more than score the ball in bunches. It was unclear early on whether the guy the Celtics watched in Cleveland was capable of achieving that level. Yet, amid a rocky first 33 games of the C’s season, Irving has been one guy that is surpassing expectations on both ends of the floor.

“Thing about him is, especially in this last year, I’ve seen him continue to get better, having more of an understanding for the offense and what coach expects from him. It’s great to see,” Al Horford said.

As Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens attempt to put together a championship puzzle in the coming months and years, they can feel better about the contributions of one of their most pivotal pieces. Irving’s ability to give this team what they need on any given night is a big step forward for him and should pay serious dividends down the line as the little things begin to matter more and more.