Let’s give it a rest, Ky
Star needs to sit until healthy
As takes go, this one is certainly several degrees below hot. It’s chilled. On the rocks even.
Kyrie Irving needs to take a seat. He needs to remain out of the lineup as long as it takes for his problematic left knee to reach a level where he can be as certain as possible that it will get him through a full postseason run.
It’s fair to assume the Celtics already know this, but we state it more for Irving, who admitted this past week that it can be difficult to control his competitive instincts.
The Celts’ best player missed last Monday’s game in Chicago due to soreness in the knee, echoes of the fractured kneecap he suffered in the 2015 NBA Finals.
Irving pronounced himself fine at practice in Minneapolis two days later and proceeded to go for 23 points in Thursday’s win over the Timberwolves.
Last night, he made half his six shots for seven points in 16 first-half minutes against Indiana, going plus-11 as the Celtics took a 50-40 lead into recess. He never made it back out. By all accounts, the knee problem is not too serious. Coach Brad Stevens said as much after the game, adding, “We don’t know what it is above general knee soreness, and I think that’s the case. But we will go and get as much testing as we need to. We think it’s general knee soreness, and he doesn’t seem overly concerned big picture-wise with it. But it’s obviously been giving him fits here and there for the 5-8 days or so.”
And Stevens knows that the Celtics cannot survive well with this game-to-game — or half-to-half — cloud hovering above them.
As he walked back down the hallway toward his office after his press conference, the phrase “health over seed” was spoken in his direction. “No doubt.” Stevens said. Even if it costs the Celts a chance at the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, Irving has to avoid the hardwood. He must be a DNP until he can RBETPIEPG (reasonably be expected to play in every playoff game).
According to the coach, the fact we didn’t see Irving in the second half was the first step down that path.
“I do think that we need to be healthy. There is no question about it,” Stevens said. “And, again, it was the reason why Kyrie didn’t come back in the game, because we didn’t want him to push it. It wasn’t a good move.”
No offense to the Pacers, who would present a stern test should these teams meet in a best-of seven, but the Celts probably don’t suffer the 99-97 loss with Kyrie on the court.
The risk, however, did not match the reward.
With Irving, the Celtics will have a chance in any playoff game — no matter the opponent. They are good enough to make it a two-minute affair, and, in their AllStar point guard, they have a player good enough to win such a condensed contest.
It’s been said that 80 percent of life is showing up, but the figure on the need for Kyrie’s presence is much higher than that when it comes to the Celtics’ chances for springtime advancement.
And he seems to get that. Last Wednesday, he said, “I could be my own worst enemy in terms of going out there and wanting to compete. I love this game so much. I study it so much.”
But before leaving the Garden last night, he agreed that he needs to stop flipping the on-off switch. A longer break may be in order.
“Yeah, I think that would probably be the best thing,” Irving said. “Just instead of kind of hoping that it gets better over two or three days, which it usually does, it’s still aching a little bit more than I want it to right now. So I’m just going to take the necessary time.
“It started in Houston, just aching,” he said, referencing the first game of this last road trip. “I thought a few days, usually it just subsides, but it’s been aching for a little bit, so I’m just going to do what’s necessary in order to get back where I need to be to feeling comfortable.”
But, like Stevens, he insists it shouldn’t be a lingering issue.
“I’m not concerned,” Irving said. “I mean, where we are in the season, I’m pretty comfortable. I think that competitively, that’s what I’m more or less concerned about is when I actually do get back on the floor and how good I want to feel, you know, the level I expect myself to play at and I want to play at — and being able to sustain it.”
The Celtics have some sustaining to do, as well. With 15 games left and now four games behind Toronto in the loss column, they will not rush Al Horford back from illness. The cold and/ or flu symptoms likely have him feeling awful, but there is benefit to his legs if he rests. And of course the Celts will tread lightly with Jaylen Brown as he works his way back through the NBA’s concussion protocol.
And if the Celtics have to reach deep down the bench for a quintet of Abdel Nader, Semi Ojeleye, Jayson Tatum, Daniel Theis and Shane Larkin as they did trailing by four at the start of the fourth quarter last night, well, so be it.