‘Scout’ Irving keeps eye on young rivals
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
After one drive last night when he was fouled by Kyrie Irving, Dennis Smith Jr. started woofing, shouting at the back of the Celtics guard’s head.
Irving, who had rejected the Dallas rookie with a come-from-behind block roughly two minutes earlier, impassively walked away without looking back at his young, almost brazen opponent.
But the moment reminded Irving of his young self, and the pride he took in attacking the biggest names in the game.
“I’ve had the unique opportunity to play well against some of the best point guards and struggle against them as well,” Irving said after the Celtics’ 97-90 win over the Mavericks. “They’ll use some veteran savvy in order to kind of take you out of your game. You just learn from that. The mix-ups in the games, that’s always part of it. People bumping, trying to prove something, that’s always fun. It stays within the game.
“So you understand that. It’s a competitive streak,” Irving added. “And then from that point it becomes who’s going to continue to stay within the game plan. You can get caught up in (the) emotions and that’s just the way the game flows sometimes.
“It’s kind of weird to call them young guys because I’ve been watching. When I was coming up, I knew about these guys when they were in middle school and high school. I’m just an avid YouTube watcher, an avid studier of people’s games. So I’ve been watching him since he was in high school when he was doing windmills on his AAU team in North Carolina. Like, so, I’ve been studying for a while. And to play against him now as a 25-year-old is awesome. “
Irving isn’t just a YouTube watcher, though. He watches video of young prospects on the level of a league scout.
“I’m scouting all the time,” Irving said. “Especially young guys that are coming in that are highly touted as I once was in their position being a top-three, top-five recruit and being labeled as the next great point guard. And the steps that you have to take in order to do that, it’s a long journey. So you just have to appreciate it. And when you play against them, just give them your best shot.”
Larkin changes tide
Brad Stevens said he likes to send Shane Larkin into a game when the score is headed in the wrong direction, and once again the veteran point guard helped change a precarious situation.
First, Larkin had to get well, though, after absorbing a hard fall on Nov. 22 in Miami, when he landed on his tailbone.
“I have had a sore back for maybe 10 or 12 days, but today I felt good and as soon as I started feeling better coach was like, ‘All right, get in there. Let’s see what you’ve got,’ ” said Larkin, who hit a 3-pointer to go along with two assists and two rebounds in the fourth quarter. “And I felt good, so I’m glad I could impact the game tonight. All movement stuff — picking up my left leg, sitting down, cutting, all that was painful for like 8-10 days. The last couple of days I’ve been feeling better but not 100 percent. Today I just felt good. No injury, no nothing. So it was good to just get back out there.”
Brown, Morris sit
Jaylen Brown missed the game with an eye infection that Stevens described as an allergic reaction to a contact lens. Marcus Morris, who still has recurring soreness in his left knee, missed his 11th game of the season.