After deciding to leave Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers Kyrie Irving was about to began a new chapter in his NBA career. Irving has always been a tremendous talent in the NBA. On Wednesday night, he helped lead the Celtics to a 99-91 Game 2 win over the Indiana Pacers.
Boston now leads the first-round playoff series 2-0.
Since his college days at Duke, it was obvious that he had a level of skill for the game that only a few have. When he was originally drafted for Cleveland, he didn’t really have any responsibilities besides balling. After years of being on a weak franchise with bad players around, what else was there for him to do?
Until Lebron came to town. James required a winning attitude and effort out of all of his teammates but especially Irving because of the level of talent he saw in him. Kyrie’s responsibility was now to become a winning player. Someone who understood teamwork and what’s needed to win basketball games. After reports of a fall-out and time apart, Kyrie Irving requested a trade to the Boston Celtics for a chance to decide his own destiny.
A new Chapter
Now here we are and Irving, as the top player on the Celtics, has the job of leading them to victory. Earlier on in the season, reports of bad team chemistry from the Celtics locker room emerged. Irving said in post-game interviews that he wand to apologize to James by saying that it’s not easy to lead a team, especially with some of the younger players around. ” The younger guys don’t know what it takes to compete at a championship level.” He also came out and said in the past that there is a maturity level needed.
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Jaylen Brown, the shooting guard for the Celtics, had responded back to these comments quickly. Irving missed the playoffs the first year with the Celtics after needing surgery on his knee. With the success the Celtics were having, this could imply that many of the young players were under the impression that they don’t need Irving, seeing as they had a much better record when he was injured and getting to the Eastern Conference finals without him.
Irving, Toxic?
With the Celtics faltering this season, and all the extra chatter that had been going on in the locker room, critics felt that this postseason was very big for Irving. So if he underperformed or the Celtics don’t reach their full potential, a lot of the blame would be on Irving as he looks like the negative in the situation.
Irving was in a different mode during Game 2, slashing past defenders and setting his teammates up for easy scores as he dominated against the Indiana Pacers.
He was able to line up a couple of threes and, as usual, his dazzling handles led him straight to the rim. Irving was able to score a game-high 36, and was lights out from the field. Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward came up big late as they helped close out the game as well. Now up two games, the Celtics look to carry their momentum on to the next one. Game 3 is Friday night in Indiana.
