Brad Stevens is a smart coach, and he knows to use all of his resources wisely. Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving won't be on the court during this series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he might actually be a key to the Boston Celtics upsetting the defending Eastern Conference champions.
According to Brad D'Amico, who covers the Celtics, Stevens spent a lot of time with Irving on Thursday talking about the strengths and weaknesses of star LeBron James, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of J.R. Smith, Kyle Korver, Tristan Thompson, and Kevin Love, all of whom he played at least a season with.
Brad Stevens says he spent “a lot of time” yesterday with Kyrie Irving. Says he picked Irving’s brain about LeBron and the other four returning Cavs players and their strengths/weaknesses.
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) May 11, 2018
James seems to be getting better and better each year, and there aren't a lot of weaknesses to exploit in his game, but Irving likely knows some things that make James uncomfortable and how to exploit those to the Celtics' advantage.
Stevens is a great game planner on his own, and it's certainly shown in these playoffs. Against the Philadelphia 76ers, Stevens and the Celtics found a way to limit Ben Simmons' effectiveness, even limiting him to just one point in Game 2.
The Cavs ‘other guys' got far more comfortable in the second round against the Toronto Raptors than they were first round against the Indiana Pacers. If the rest of the Cavs are struggling to shoot, it will be a lot easier to gameplan around that. If the rest of the offense is stepping up around him though, Stevens is going to have to get pretty creative in order to win this series.
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