Boston Celtics: Playoff Kyrie Irving is back, and it’s a great sign for the C’s

Opening the playoffs with a 2-0 series lead, it’s clear that playoff Kyrie Irving is back and it’s a great sign for the Boston Celtics

Entering the post-season, one of the biggest question marks in the Eastern Conference revolved around which Boston Celtics team we were going to see once the real games (ones that matter most) began.

Through much of the 2018-19 NBA regular season, the Celtics had largely underwhelmed. Before the season, many penciled the Celtics in as the overwhelming favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference. In fact, most had Boston running through the East – with little-to-no resistance.

However, a few weeks into the season, it was clear that A) the Celtics weren’t going to run through the East, and B) there was a good chance that Boston wasn’t even the best team in the East.

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Not much of that sentiment changed throughout the course of the season. While we saw flashes of what this team had the potential to be, the Celtics never consistently became the team that many expected them to be.

So, as the NBA Playoffs approached and tipped off, it was only natural to question if the Celtics had the ability to flip the switch once the real games officially began. After all, this was a team that had all the ingredients – a great head coach in Brad Stevens, a loaded roster and a no-question superstar in Kyrie Irving.

Through the first two games of the playoffs, I’m not sure we can entirely answer that question without hesitation, but so far so good. The Celtics currently hold a 2-0 series lead over the Indiana Pacers, and it appears that Playoff Kyrie is back. Which is important not only for Kyrie, but also the Celtics as a whole.

Playoff Kyrie is a phenomenon that came to fruition during his stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, when he helped lead the comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals against arguably the NBA’s greatest regular season team in history. He also hit one of the biggest shots in NBA Finals history to essentially clinch the victory in Game 7.

He’s picking up where he left off in Cleveland. This is the first year that Kyrie has suited up for the playoffs in a Celtics uniform (he missed all of last year’s run with an injury), and is very much taking the advantage of it.

Through the first two games in the playoffs, Kyrie is averaging 29 points, seven assists and six rebounds on 49 percent shooting from the field and 53 percent from 3-point range. He’s largely fueled the Celtics through the first two games of the playoffs, and will likely be the guiding force to how far this Boston team goes.

Even though the road to the NBA Finals is still a long, rugged one of the Celtics, the fact that Playoff Kyrie Irving has emerged is a great sign. But the real battle for Kyrie and Boston awaits them in the second-round, when they will likely face the Milwaukee Bucks – who have essentially been the team this season that many assumed the Celtics would be.

The Bucks have consistently been the best team in the Eastern Conference – and arguably the entire NBA – this season and Giannis Antetokounmpo will likely be the league MVP this season. If the Celtics are going to emerge victorious in their likely second-round playoff clash, they’re going to need peak Playoff Kyrie. And even then, with the way Giannis and the Bucks have played this season, there’s no guarantee the Celtics even have enough to overtake them.

The good news, though, is that we’ve begun to see Playoff Kyrie Irving and the good Boston Celtics through the first week of the NBA Playoffs. Question is, will it continue as we get deeper into the post-season?