Marcus Smart Explains Why Celtics Aren’t Better Without Kyrie Irving

https://nesn.com/2019/03/marcus-smart-explains-why-celtics-arent-better-without-kyrie-irving/





Marcus Smart Explains Why Celtics Aren’t Better Without Kyrie Irving




by Logan Mullen on Thu, Mar 28, 2019 at 6:05PM



Marcus Smart doesn’t care about the numbers.

This season without Kyrie Irving, the Boston Celtics are 11-2, which has led many to wonder if the Celtics actually are better off without the star point guard.

Of course, many of those wins came against bad teams (such as Tuesday’s victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers), so there’s only so much stock that can be put into those 13 games. But nevertheless, in a season that’s been rife with challenges and underachievements, the record without Irving certainly stands out.

But in an interview with the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett, Smart explained why he doesn’t pay any mind to the C’s numbers sans-Irving.

“Not at all,” Smart said. “You know, Kyrie is one of the greatest players to play this game, and I think if you ask anybody, they want Kyrie — especially when there’s games on the line, when there’s plays that need to be made, the plays that he makes.

“So we’re 11-2 without him, but it means nothing.”

He then shared what can be taken away from that record.

“You look at those numbers, and that should just tell you and tell us how much better we should be when he comes back and plays with us,” Smart said. “We’ve been in a slump, but we’re going to find it and it’s going to start clicking.”

The Celtics certainly need to figure it out with the postseason right around the corner, because they do have the talent to make a deep run. And in order for them to make said run, they’ll need Irving.



bob



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This surprises me to some extent. Smart is one who always hustles and I cannot imagine that he cannot be terribly frustrated by Irving's poor efforts on defense that have happened far too often. Perhaps Smart is trying to find something good to say about Irving and not follow Irving's example of ripping his teammates?