‘Celtics better off without Kyrie Irving’- In last 4 years, the one time Boston didn’t make it to ECF, Kyrie played the whole season

Kyrie Irving joined the Boston Celtics back in 2017, to make his own name and be a leader on the court. However, things turned out differently for him and the Celtics.

Ever since Kyrie and LeBron won the ring for Cleveland back in 2016, Kyrie felt like he needed to grow out of LBJ’s shadow and be a face of a franchise, so he was traded the Celtics. The Celtics were rather very good in the 2016-17 season and had lost to Kyrie and the Cavs in the ECF.

In his very first season there, Kyrie lost Gordon Hayward to a fractured tibia in the first game of the season, but the sophomore Jaylen Brown and the rookie Jayson Tatum were doing pretty well. Kyrie then got injured, but the team still made it to the ECF, just to lose to Bron and the Cavs again.

Heat vs. Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals 🔥☘️ pic.twitter.com/GR1ol4Zdtc

— ESPN (@espn) September 12, 2020

Also Read: “ECF schedule for Heat vs Celtics”

What happened in the 2017-18 season was that Jaylen and Jason stepped up, in the absence of their leader Kyrie, and they became capable of leading the team.

‘Celtics better off without Kyrie Irving’

When Kyrie re-joined the Celtics back in the 2018-19 season, there was a clear lack of chemistry. Kyrie played the entire season, and the Celtics recorded their lowest win %  in the Brad Stevens era and lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs.

Kyrie left in 2019 to join the Nets, and the Celtics make it to the ECF again! Co-incidence?

Thus,

Boston Celtics make the ECF 3rd time in 4 seasons

Brad Stevens. The name behind Celtics having such a good past few years. His system and the player development system in Boston is wonderful.

They have groomed 3 of their previous draft picks really well and the front office has been very active and always gets the coach the kind of players they need.

Also Read: Jayson Tatum mocks Charles Barkley for his golf swing

They groomed Marcus Smart(2014 draft), the x-factor in the Raptors series, Jaylen Brown(2016 draft), and Jason Tatum(2017 draft).

A possible Celtics-Lakers matchup in the finals?

The Celtics-Lakers rivalry is one of the oldest and the fiercest rivalry in the NBA. The Boston Celtics have 17 championships to their name, whereas the Los Angeles Lakers have 16 to theirs.

If the Celtics manage to fight off the Heat, they enter the NBA finals.

The Lakers still have to deal with the Rockets and win one more game in that series, and then beat the winner of the Clippers/Nuggets series to get to the finals.