Kyrie Irving’s clutch gene has propelled him into the MVP conversation in his first year with the Boston Celtics.
The NBA’s most valuable player award is challenging to discuss. Everyone has a different definition of the word “valuable,” and even more specifically people value certain things more than others. That being said, most people would consider James Harden and LeBron James significant front-runners for the award, and rightfully so. They have both been sensational, and both of their teams are firing off win after win. The next three or four spots in the MVP latter are up for debate. Giannis Antetokounmpo is probably in this group, as well as Stephen Curry. Then, it becomes all opinion. But you need to know about someone else who needs to be in this top five conversation. The last spot should belong to Kyrie Irving.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens has Irving playing to his strengths. A shot creator for himself, and others, is precisely what Irving has always wanted to be, and that’s what he is doing now. His 29.8 assist percentage is the highest its been since he played without LeBron, showcasing his ability to find his open teammates and run the offense. Stevens trusts Irving to find the open man when he beats his matchup or runs a set.
He has court vision that allows him to make passes nobody else can even see. Not one soul saw this pass coming (at least no name on the Nets did), and it leads to an easy layup for Semi Ojeleye:
You can’t let Irving get by you either. Once you’re beaten, he waits until the perfect moment that the defense is collapsing, and he whips it out to any of his plethora of shooters:
He’s embarrassing guys with his dribbling, and it makes so many good things happen for both Boston and himself. Irving accumulates .9 assists per game just on drives, and he scores 7.7 points per contest driving to the rim by himself. He’s shooting 54.1 percent in these scenarios, so the defense clamps down on him when he’s headed to the basket, but he’s had no trouble whipping it out to someone else like you saw in the clip above.
Kyrie is also currently averaging his second most points per game in his illustrious career. This statistic can be traced back to shooting a career high from the field while still shooting 39.7 percent from deep. He’s impossible to stop from basically everywhere on the court, and once he’s hot, he is virtually unstoppable.
He’s getting more open looks in a Celtics uniform than he ever has before, and he’s making the most of them. Only 9.7 percent of his shots were classified as wide open last season in Cleveland. This year, 11.5 percent of his looks are wide open, per nba.com. Stevens runs actions like this, a flare screen of sorts, to get Irving open looks from beyond the arc:
He’s also pretty good at getting himself open, which you probably already know since he is Kyrie friggin’ Irving. The screen allows him the matchup that he wants, but a nasty step back gives him the space to can the jumper:
That is reminiscent of his 2016 game 7 finals winning shot. He’s always been good at nailing that shot. Now he has the sets to get him open too.
These are very general sense things. Kyrie is scoring well and creating well, and he’s been super effecient on offense. But he’s played like this his whole career; these things are just a small portion of what makes him an MVP candidate. The real culprit is his clutch statistics.
Last years MVP, Russell Westbrook, did a lot of impressive things. He impacted the game in all facets; rebounding, scoring, passing, and even defense when he put his mind to it. But what pushed Westbrook’s impact over the edge was how clutch he was.
Russ was a beast with the game on the line during his illustrious most valuable player campaign. He led the team to 25-15 record in games that included a clutch situation, defined as a game within five points with five or fewer minutes remaining. That 62.5 win percentage in the clutch is very impressive, and Russ did it on 56.9 percent true shooting and a 21.7 net rating.
In the clutch this season, Kyrie might just be better than that.
Irving’s clutch net rating is an astonishing 23.4. He is shooting incredibly efficiently in these situations, his true shooting percentage in 67.5 percent. Most impressive of all is that the Celtics are 12-5 in these cases, showing that Kyrie is leading Boston to the most significant stat in clutch scenarios: wins.
Take the Celtics recent game on December 6th against the Dallas Mavericks. With four and a half minutes remaining in the game, the score was tied 87-87. The Celtics ended up winning by seven points, and much of that was thanks to Kyrie Irving. They went on a 10-0 run in which Kyrie Irving had six of those points, including this nasty one-on-three layup to push the lead to four:
As Tim MacMahon would say, Kyrie Irving has the “cajones factor.”
The Dallas game is just one occurrence. Remember the end of the Warriors game when he cooked Klay Thompson twice to help the Celtics come back and win? These are impressive:
And again two minutes later, while also drawing the foul:
Beating the Mavericks is one thing. Leading a comeback against the defending champs is something very few players are capable of. The Celtics have one of those guys in Kyrie Irving.
He’s doing his thing just as well as he always has. The impressive part about Kyrie’s season has been his ability to do it when it matters most. When some guys shy away from the spotlight, Irving pops up and carries the load. His stats might not jump off the page at you, but Kyrie Irving’s clutch play has earned him some top five most valuable player consideration.
All stats accurate as of 12/12
