Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving can do a lot of things well. He's perhaps best known for his crafty finishing around the basket and his shooting prowess.
But one of his biggest claims to fame claims to fame — both on the basketball court and in pop culture — is the way he can handle the ball. He is the only player other than Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry who has handles so elite that they can get him anywhere he wants on the floor, and out of any precarious situation while he's being defended.
Oftentimes, basketball fans love to see a spectacular display of dribbling followed by a nice made shot. Well, Irving at least gave the fans 50 percent of those things in a game against the New York Knicks on Saturday night, per ESPN NBA's official Twitter account.
Kyrie didn't make this shot, but the handles still work 😳 pic.twitter.com/VVusk9LY6s
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 25, 2018
Irving gave Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina a nasty behind-the-back dribble that dropped Ntilikina straight to the floor. Irving had a wide-open midrange jumper to complete the highlight, but he clanked it off the rim.
Let's cut Irving some slack. After he dribbled behind his back, Irving was not squared to the basket and had to work hard to do so as he shot the jump shot. That's a difficult shot to make. It's not so bad that he didn't knock that one down.
Fans should feel worse for Ntilikina, who just got another one of those Welcome to the NBA moments. His teammates may rib him about this moment for the next few weeks, as they should.