Boston bloom without Irving

The Boston Celtics look re-energised without former point guard Kyrie Irving, writes Ben Golliver.

The Boston Celtics don’t need to face Kyrie Irving to be certain they are over him. Irving, who left the Celtics for the Brooklyn Nets as a free agent this NBA off-season, was sidelined with a shoulder injury for his new team’s first visit to TD Garden, a 121-110 beating, on Thursday.

While his absence spoilt the night’s revenge narrative and denied the Boston crowd a prime booing opportunity, it also reinforces the central theme of the Celtics’ season: They have not been defined by the six-time All Star’s departure. Indeed, everything about the Celtics – from their record, to their offensive balance, to their response to early adversity – suggests that they have moved on from Irving’s perplexing twoyear tenure with remarkable ease.

Last year’s Celtics spent the regular season in a maddening, unresolved state before crumbling in the playoffs. Irving, who has admitted to isolating himself and feeling depressed following his grandfather’s death, performed erratically, but he was only one of many contributing factors. Gordon Hayward, an All Star calibre forward before a serious leg injury, was a shell of himself as he worked through his recovery. Meanwhile, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, Boston’s talented young wing duo, often looked ordinary. While Irving’s ball-dominant presence complicated their offensive roles, neither found much success going to the basket or playmaking for their team-mates.

By contrast, this year’s Celtics look reenergised and comfortable in their own skin, boasting a 13-4 record and the NBA’s seventh-best point differential, 11th-best offence and fifth-best defence. They have compiled that portfolio despite the summer departures of Irving and All Star centre Al Horford, along with another early season injury to Hayward.

To pin that turnaround entirely on Irving would be unfair, although the vacuum created by his departure has enabled many key developments. First, it set up Boston to ink Kemba Walker as a less spectacular, but steadier, replacement at point guard. The threetime All Star has averaged 21.1 points and 4.7 assists per game, establishing himself as a lead scoring option in his preferred pick-and-roll scenarios, without sucking up all the oxygen in the room.

‘‘The Kemba pick up was huge,’’ said Doc Rivers, the coach who led Boston to its most recent NBA title and now helms the Los Angeles Clippers. ‘‘He’s not only a great player, but a great glue guy as well. I’m not sure anybody in the league doesn’t like him. It was exactly what they needed.’’

The Walker-for-Irving exchange has allowed Tatum and Brown to feel greater ownership in Boston’s future and assert themselves on offence with greater regularity. Irving’s departure also removed the burden of championship expectations that seemed to swallow last year’s Celtics.

But there have been other settling forces. Brown, 23, inked a four-year, $NZ175 million extension before the season started, and he has responded to Boston’s show of faith with career-highs in scoring, rebounds, assists and player efficiency rating.

Best of all, his offensive game is making strides toward the modern wing ideal — he’s enjoying the most prolific three-point shooting season of his career, he’s getting to the foul line more often than ever, and he’s driving to the hoop nearly twice as often as last season.

‘‘I wouldn’t have had the stomach to give him that money [before the season],’’ one rival scout said. ‘‘He’s making his bosses look good.’’

The 21-year-old Tatum, who still has the highest upside of anyone on Boston’s roster, has shown similar progress when it comes to filling out his offensive game and updating his shot profile.

His scoring, rebounding, assists and player efficiency rating are all up this season, but this isn’t just a matter of volume. He’s attacking the basket far more often, he’s cut way back on his long 2-pointers and he’s attempting nearly twice as many 3-pointers as he did last season. As his usage rate has skyrocketed, Tatum has shown some progress as a facilitator.

‘‘Jayson is a guy we’re going to do a lot with, and he’s continued to grow his game,’’ Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. ‘‘I think he can grow even more. His ability to make different reads as he continues to be put in different situations will be very important for our team, especially as he gets more and more attention.’’

Hayward, whose inconsistency influenced the Celtics’ lineups and chemistry last year, started the season moving well and shooting the lights out. Boston has soldiered on with a 5-3 record since he broke his hand on November 9, a promising sign given last year’s tenuous locker room dynamic.

Sometimes, a known injury can be easier for a team and coaching staff to manage than the uncertainty caused by a recovering player. Marcus Smart has stepped in as a starter, finding clean scoring opportunities for his team-mates, handling a wide variety of defensive responsibilities and keeping the Celtics engaged, despite Hayward’s setback.

With a healthy Hayward, Boston (13-4) have good reason to believe they can compete with the Philadelphia 76ers (12-6) and Toronto Raptors (13-4) as the Eastern Conference’s second-best team behind the Milwaukee Bucks (15-3). After a humbling five-game loss in last year’s playoffs, though, it’s hard to envision the Celtics mounting a true challenge to the Bucks unless they pursue rebounding forward reinforcements at the trade deadline.

Boston’s realistic best-case scenario – riding a targeted acquisition or two all the way to the conference finals – is compelling evidence that the organisation has survived the ill-fated Irving era without lasting scars.