Kyrie Irving’s recent defensive struggles hurting Celtics

After a solid opening to the season on the defensive side of the ball, Kyrie Irving’s effort has slid.

When the Boston Celtics pulled the trigger on the Kyrie Irving trade in August, one of the biggest qualms made about the deal was that Irving was no better of a defender than the matador-esque Isaiah Thomas.

Irving garnered a defensive rating of 112 in his final season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. This rating was just as poor as Thomas’, and we all know how heavily Thomas was chided for his defensive ineffectiveness.

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Uncle Drew’s current defensive rating of 105 is merely a facade, bolstered by an impressive start to the season on that end of the floor. Irving earned an elite defensive rating of 97 in October before seeing the rating rise to an acceptable 104 in November. In December, however, his defense has been an issue.

In nine December games, Irving has been torched on defense to the tune of a 115 defensive rating. His breakdowns on this end of the floor have been catastrophic to a Celtics team that has found themselves struggling to pull out victories for the first time since the season’s first two games.

Irving’s 116.9 defensive rating over the last five games ranks 350th in the NBA during that span, and it’s no wonder why he has been saddled with such a disappointing mark. In a 124-118 win over the Nuggets last Wednesday, Harris and Murray traded buckets all night while being guarded by Irving.

Harris chopped up Irving to the tune of 36 points on 16 made field goals while Murray contributed a modest 27 points. Irving saved the day offensively with 33 points on 12-for-19 shooting from the field, but his defense was one of the reasons why the game was so close to begin with.

Two nights later at TD Garden, Rubio of the Jazz took Irving to school throughout a 12-point upset victory. Rubio, who averages just 12.1 points per game, exploded for 22 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the field. He got to his favorite spots on the floor with ease while driving for a plethora of easy lay-in’s at the rim, making it a mystery as to how he posts just a dozen points per night.

Irving seemed dumbfounded every time he was hit with a screen, running around screens with utter confusion while being trapped by screeners as well. This mistake was fatal, especially when dealing with a point guard such as Rubio who has the ability to blaze a defense with his court vision. If you give him room, Rubio will make you pay with his crafty skill set, and pay Irving did.

On Monday against the Indiana Pacers, Irving’s efforts to stop guard Oladipo were futile. While Irving was not guarding him all night, Oladipo salivated when the situation called for a one-on-one between the two, finishing with 38 points on 13-for-23 shooting from the field. Irving even struggled to match up against the veteran Collison, who emerged for 15 points and two three-pointers of his own in just 24 minutes.

Irving’s increased defensive ineffectiveness does not take away from his spectacular offensive game, unrivaled by anyone in the league. He singlehandedly brought Boston back from the dead against the Pacers, making two unreasonable three-point attempts in the final minute to open the door for Terry Rozier‘s game-winning steal and dunk.

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However, Irving cannot become the liability that Thomas was in the latter part of 2016-17, where it was a foregone conclusion that the opposing point guard was going to have a monster night every game in the postseason. Wall torched Thomas & Co. throughout the Eastern Conference Semifinals last season. With the two teams set to face each other four times before the regular season ends with a likely playoff matchup brewing, an unstoppable Wall cannot be unleashed yet again in 2017-18.