Kyrie Irving's value to the Boston Celtics has been put in question several times this season, despite being the franchise's best player. However, despite his defensive weaknesses being a lot less glaring since joining head coach Brad Stevens, the Celtics wind up being just as good, if not better, when he doesn’t play.

David Thorpe of TrueHoop noted the interesting distinction of having Irving on or off the court this season:

Since January, the Celtics are 20-12. When Kyrie has played during that stretch, they’re 11-11. When he hasn’t played, they’re 9-1. They have five wins against playoff contenders when he’s played, five when he hasn’t. And what happened last season is still fresh in our minds. Kyrie’s left knee needed surgery, forcing him out of the last 13 games of the regular season (Celtics were 8-5) and all of the playoffs (Celtics were 11-8 during that excellent run that ended in Cleveland in Game 7).

While these are just simple win-and-loss records, sometimes the truth lies in the simplest of concepts and beyond the advanced metrics, as it is the purest way to look at a team's performance.

Beyond the numbers of assists, the 3-point shooting prowess and the amount of uncontested shots allowed to their opponents, the Celtics will ultimately be judged on their seeding, their win-loss record and how far they take this organization into the playoffs. And so will Kyrie Irving, whether he likes it or not.

Boston seemed out of the forest after winning four of its last five games, but a 140-115 loss to the LA Clippers has now put that in question again with only 14 games remaining to find an answer.