Luka Doncic may take responsibility for the defeat in Game 2, but all eyes are on Kyrie Irving. After his 12 points on 6 out of 19 shots in Game 1, he did barely better with 16 points on 7 out of 18 shots in the second round. Common to his two poor performances: he still hasn't scored a single 3-point shot! He is 0 out of 8 from a distance, and 35% over the two matches.
“ I'm not the only one responsible, but I take most of it because my teammates are counting on me to convert a lot of those shots and take the load off not only Luka, but everyone else and the team.” Irving responded. “Offensively, I have to play better. The first two games weren't the best for me, especially when Luka scored more than 25 points, grabbed rebounds, delivered assists and did things that don't show up in the stats. I feel responsible for the playing comfort of other players on the field. »
The Celtics are moving him to his left hand
Clearly, it is physically that Kyrie Irving suffers against the Celtics. Besides Jrue Holiday, he has to contend with, in turn, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, and even sometimes Jayson Tatum. It's one-on-one, and Irving's dribbling skills don't make the difference. He still manages to score acrobatic lay-ups, but his lack of success on outside shots does not create space for his teammates.
“They push me a little more on my left side”noted the All-Star point guard. “I'm a little disappointed that I didn't manage to convert more chances when I took the intervals. Sure, I'm going against Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown a few times, but I feel like I have the edge on some possessions where I just have to put it in. A lot of shots hit the back of the circle and came out, and that can be annoying…”
This is what Jason Kidd ultimately remembers. His leader had good positions, and he just didn't get into it. “He had some really good positions, and it just didn’t go in…”
