Boston Celtics: The best defensive assignment for each of Brooklyn’s Big-3

Best Boston Celtics defensive assignment for Kyrie Irving: Marcus Smart

Finally, we come to our decision on where we believe Marcus Smart will be best served when it comes to his individual defensive assignment during this upcoming first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets.

Though perhaps the “lesser” worry between him, Harden, and Durant — which, my goodness, is saying something –, it’s arguable that Kyrie Irving is the most challenging matchup when it comes to his specific skill set and unbelievable athleticism.

C’s fans know firsthand just how difficult the point guard can be to stay with.

Quite possibly in possession of the greatest handles in NBA history, this coupled with Irving’s electrifying quickness and unbelievable efficiency as a triple-threat scorer — entered the 50/ 40/ 90 club this season — make him one of the most troubling one-on-one matchups to ever lace them up.

This, right here, is why you throw Smart his way.

Now, in order to give the Boston Celtics the best chance of attaining a victory, it’s more than likely that they’ll be playing quite a few zones throughout the majority of play.

However, a smart idea (no pun intended) could be to have Marcus Smart go out on his own to try and take out one of the Big-3, leaving two of them to be handled in some sort of zone scenario.

The biggest one-on-one threat is easily Irving, which is why we at HH believe tossing the team’s best defender on his would be the right move to make if you’re Brad Stevens.