Just three months ago, Kyrie Irving stood in a locker room in Chicago playing down any issues with this Celtics team on the heels of allowing 126 points against a rebuilding Bulls team. Would any of the team’s regular season issues seep into the postseason?
“No, we’ll be fine.”
One reporter wondered why he was so sure.
“Because I’m here.”
That sort of overconfidence has been a trademark of the All-Star guard during what has been one of the best regular seasons of his career on the court this year. However, the biggest question mark about Irving since his arrival to Boston two years ago has always been his play on the defensive end. He can put up points with anyone when he’s in a groove but Irving's propensity to give those points back when being targeted was just as much of a concern for me when arrived two summers ago.
Those concerns have shown plenty of validity in the second-round showdown with the Milwaukee Bucks thus far. Irving's second series without LeBron James in the postseason has not gone great to this point. A few poor shooting nights have factored in, but one needs to look no further than the team’s defensive splits with the point guard on and off the floor for the more glaring issues.
REGULAR SEASON
Celtics defensive rating with Irving on court: 105.9 points allowed per 100 possessions
Celtics defensive rating with Irving off court: 103.8 points allowed per 100 possessions
VS. BUCKS
Celtics defensive rating with Irving on court: 111.7 points allowed per 100 possessions
Celtics defensive rating with Irving off court: 94.7 points allowed per 100 possessions
While it’s foolish to simply go by the numbers to cast blame for poor team defense, a closer investigation of the film shows a disturbing pattern in the past two losses to Milwaukee: Put simply, Irving looks like a guy who appears to be treating playoff games against the NBA’s best team with the urgency of a regular season game in February on the defensive end.
Let's analyze Irving's deficient areas to this point:
LOSING TRACK OF HIS MAN
George Hill and Pat Connaughton nearly outscored the Celtics' bench single-handedly in Game 3 of the series with huge efforts, yet the man who allowed them to score a combined 35 points was none other than Irving on several occasions. It started with Irving in the first quarter as he fails to even bother to locate Connaughton (a good rebounder for a guard) on a boxout, resulting in an easy two points.
Later in the half, Irving is positioned near the paint on a drive by Khris Middleton. He turns into a ball watcher as the shooting guard gets forced towards the baseline, opening the door for Hill to sneak by him for a cut. Middleton rewards Hill with the pass while Irving reacts too late to prevent the layup.
NOT FIGHTING THROUGH SCREENS
This has always been one of the biggest knocks on the point guard and it’s one of the trademarks of any good defensive guard. Fighting through screens is hard and it takes a toll on a body over the course of 48 minutes, particularly when a player is carrying a big load on the offensive load. However, the Celtics' defense won’t have much of a chance if Irving keeps giving in on them at the rate he has shown during the past two games.
A simple screen here by Connaughton (a small guard) occupies Irving for far longer than it should during the Bucks 12-0 third-quarter run, producing an easy look from 3 for Hill.
Other times, Irving tries to be proactive about avoiding screens, calling for switches while his teammates are already occupied with their men or when there is no need for it. Watch here on one of the first plays of Game 2. Irving getting switched onto Mirotic or Middleton is a mismatch, so Brown and Tatum are playing tight onto those 3-point shooters. Yet, Irving points (when no one is looking at him) for the switch. He fails to realize this until Bledsoe is already taking a wide-open 3
UNNECESSARY HELP/POOR CHOICES
The Bucks have shown they are a smart enough team under Mike Budenholtzer to make you pay when defensive mistakes are made, something the Celtics have done time and time again in this series. Irving is far from the only player that has had his issues on the defensive end, but his ill-advised choices have repeatedly but Boston in tough spots.
One of the biggest priorities Brad Stevens likely has every time Boston comes down the floor on D is trying to keep the 6-foot-3 Irving from guarding Antetokounmpo, which would be the biggest mismatch on the floor. Yet, on multiple occasions in this series, Irving has invited the matchup for himself with alternatives present, essentially exposing the Celtics defense.
Watch here as Irving doesn’t even try to fight through a screen and ends up picking up Antetokounmpo in the midpost. Hayward has to offer help from the weak side, opening the door for a Connaughton 3.
Irving isn’t the one fighting through a screen in Game 2, yet he tries to front Antetokounmpo even though Horford has managed to stick with him. Horford knows that he needs to stay on him (Irving against Giannis in the post is an easy two points for Milwaukee) yet Irving stays closer to Giannis here with an unnecessary double team and abandons his own man (the original screener). The Bucks swing the ball away from Giannis and get an easy open 3, once again, thanks to Kyrie.
Other times, Irving drops down to commits to help but simply provides no meaningful resistance at the rim, opening up windows for easy kick-out passes on his own man (Middleton gets the corner 3 here).
No one is perfect on the defensive end but for a guy that preaches doing the little things and having a genius basketball IQ, he’s been a pretty big liability with his choices on that front for Boston.
LACK OF HUSTLE IN TRANSITION DEFENSE
Perhaps the most damning part of Irving’s recent play has been a lack of hustle. We’ve called him out before here at BSJ for his regular-season malaise with the expectation being that when the postseason arrives, an uptick would arrive in this department. Yet, as one of the most dangerous transition teams in the NBA continues to pile up points against Boston with open transition 3s, it’s hard to ignore the last man that continually arrives in the picture on these makes.
Connaughton and Irving start pretty close to even on this play before Connaughton’s 3
Irving gets blocked here and shows no awareness/effort upon getting back into the play to find an unmarked Mirotic on the weakside in the 5-on-4 situation.
Once again, Irving goes down after a miss here and the sweet time it takes him to get up and jog back gives the Bucks a window for a 5-on-4 opportunity.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
All of these clips are just from the last two games and, while Irving's defense wasn't game-changing in Game 2, it's hard to argue that better effort from him wouldn't have given the Celtics a chance in Game 3. The Celtics have only allowed 123 points 11 times this season, but two of those have come in the past two games (2-9 in those matchups). Based on their style and rate of efficiency (layups and free throws for Bucks vs. jumpers for Celtics) the Celtics don’t have a good chance to win a track meet with the Bucks. They are going to need to slow them down to win these games and Irving clearly isn’t buying into that mindset with how he's performing.
For a guy who has continually harped on and called out others for failing to do the little things all season, he’s been the biggest offender on that front through the past two losses in this series. Some of these miscues would be forgivable with his offensive talent but the fact is Irving is only shooting 39 percent from the field and 27 percent from 3-point range in this series. He also leads the team with 11 turnovers while carrying a top-10 usage rate among all players in the postseason.
Irving has shown that he can be a capable defender (see: Pacers series) but a lack of tenacity seems to be the root cause in a lot of Boston’s defensive issues to this point. This group already has its hands full containing Antetokounmpo and Middleton, so they don’t need Irving opening the door for more big nights for the likes of Hill and Connaughton.
If Irving tightens things up for the remainder of the series, the Celtics should give themselves a chance. Stevens needs him on the floor for the C's to score. Otherwise, a play like this may end up being the defining moment of Irving’s tenure in Boston as an uncertain free agency looms this summer.
George Hill just silenced the Garden pic.twitter.com/Nho9wlJLcr
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 4, 2019
