Though many expected the Golden State Warriors to be the hottest team in the NBA as has been the case for the past few years, the beginning of this campaign was different. Instead, it was the revamped Boston Celtics who have taken the league by storm, opening the season with 17 wins in their first 20 contests.
Though a lot of that can be attributed to their supreme young talent such as wings Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, their attack has been spearheaded by superstar point guard Kyrie Irving on both ends of the court.
Out of their 17 wins thus far this season, 16 of them were uninterrupted as the Celtics enjoyed a 35-day stretch without taking a loss. That string of success came to a close recently at the hands of the Miami Heat and Irving was asked about the streak being snapped after the game. Following from ESPN’s Israel Gutierrez:
“You could tell they were locked in all night,” Irving said. “They wanted it. You gotta credit their energy…”
“There’s still a lot to accomplish going forward,” Irving said. “It was a nice streak. But it was time to come to an end.”
With the winning streak now in the rearview mirror, perhaps Boston can start fresh on a new one. They already bounced back from the tough loss to Miami in spectacular fashion against the Orlando Magic in which Kyrie dropped an efficient 30 points.
Every streak has to come to an end and no one is more familiar with this than Kyrie Irving who just came to Boston this summer after being dealt by the powerhouse Cleveland Cavaliers. Irving has done a stellar job with his new team and has seamlessly adjusted himself to life as the primary scoring option on an upper echelon team.
The crafty 25-year-old is averaging a shade under 23 points per game and over 5 assists and with his team securely in the top spot out East, Irving has situated himself as one of the early frontrunners to take home the MVP award.
