Irving shares secret to Celtics’ winning streak
These are the Celtics we expected. Winners of seven consecutive games, Kyrie Irving swishing near-impossible three-pointers, Marcus Smart doing a bit of everything, Marcus Morris putting together a career year and a deep bench contributing where necessary.
Where have those Celtics been all season? What’s the difference between a 9-9 start and an 8-1 record since? For Irving it’s distilled into one word.
“Fun,” he said. “Just having fun. That’s really all it comes down (to).”
Why weren’t they having fun?
“Just weren’t. It happens,” Irving said. “New group. New environment. New things to figure out. Expectations you have for what you want to be and how you want to win. ... Even the best teams had to go through trials of figuring out what they look like every day.”
It was expected externally and even internally that the Celtics would simply add Irving and Gordon Hayward back to a lineup that took Cleveland to seven games in the Eastern Conference finals and they would roll through the East.
Irving and Hayward are healthy, but it hasn’t worked out that way. The Celtics struggled early, trying to find the right starting lineup and rotations while other teams got off to impressive starts.
While the Celtics are bothered by injuries and an illness that has spread throughout the locker room, coach Brad Stevens has landed on Irving, Smart, Morris, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford as the starters with Hayward, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier off the bench.
“Our second unit is pretty much starters. Terry and Gordon and Jaylen are starters in this league,” Irving said. “That’s not a prototypical second unit.”
He’s right, and it shows how much depth the Celtics have when you also include Aron Baynes, Daniel Theis, Semi Ojeleye and emerging rookie Robert Williams.
The Celtics have a strong defense. It was the offense that really struggled in the first 18 games. Some, but not all, of those issues have been resolved with lineup alterations.
In the past nine games, the Celtics have scored 120.3 points per 100 possessions, much better than the 104.3 points in the first five weeks of the season. Stevens has found success with a variety of lineups.
Irving, who had 38 points, including 12 in overtime, in Boston’s 125-120 win Wednesday against Washington, has quietly been putting together an impressive season and has become a vocal leader, a role he takes seriously. If the Celtics continue to win and Irving plays like he is (22.5 points, 6.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game and shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 39.1 percent on three-pointers), he will be in the MVP discussion.
“When you have to care about an entire group and really depend on just learning who you’re playing with and who’s coaching you, having that relationship, that’s far more important to me now than it is just being the young guy and just trying to get a bunch of points and assists,” Irving said. “As long as we’re winning and my teammates are good, I’m happy.”
Morris is having a career year scoring (14.9 points per game), rebounding (6.3) and shooting (49.5 percent, 42.3 percent on threes) and is a defensive anchor. Smart isn’t going to score a lot, but he will rebound, pass and guard every position on the court.
Plug Baynes in at center alongside Irving, Smart and Tatum and the Celtics post impressive offensive and defensive stats, and Hayward should continue to improve.
The Celtics are 17-10, 41⁄ 2 games behind Toronto and in fifth place in the East going into Thursday, but they’re just one game out of second place.
“We have all kinds of things we need to be better at,” Stevens said. “Our spirit is good. We’re now more comfortable and focused on our tasks. Everybody knows what they need to do when they go in the game and know how we’re going to play.
“We’re going to get better at that stuff as the season goes on. … We’ve got something to build off for sure through the first 27 games.”