Celtics Notes: Boston Can’t Always Rely On Kyrie Irving’s Heroics

Kyrie Irving has been a tremendous addition to the Boston Celtics, that much is clear.

The star point guard has been playing at an MVP-caliber level throughout the season, which has been a leading factor in Boston sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings for the bulk of the campaign.

But Irving is human, and he’s not going to turn in a sensational performance every night.

This was the case Christmas Day, as Irving played below his standards in the Celtics’ matchup with the Washington Wizards at TD Garden. Irving posted a modest 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting in Boston’s 111-103 defeat, marking its third loss in its last four games.

With Irving clearly out of sync against the Wizards, the Celtics needed their other stars to pick up the slack. While Jayson Tatum answered by matching Irving with 20 points of his own, the rookie forward was the only Boston starter to elevate his game.

Al Horford only chipped in an underwhelming 12 points, while Jaylen Brown only accounted for eight points on 3-of-9 shooting. Boston actually received double-digit performances from Terry Rozier (16 points), Daniel Theis (12 points) and Marcus Smart (10 points), but the boost from the bench ultimately wasn’t enough to compensate for the starters’ lackluster evening.

This isn’t unfamiliar territory for the Celtics. Although the green marched all the way to the Eastern Conference finals last season, the team struggled in games Isaiah Thomas wasn’t at his best. Although the 2017 roster is a near-complete overhaul from 2016, the theme of putting all the eggs in the star player’s basket is fairly similar.

The Celtics are fortunate that, more often than not, Irving will be his usual self and play like the All-Star that he is. But if the C’s have any hope of making a deep postseason run, they need to prove they can excel even when Irving is playing like a mere mortal.

Here are some other notes from Celtics-Wizards:

— With Boston’s loss, the Toronto Raptors have leapfrogged the Celtics for the top spot in the East.

— Celtics forward Marcus Morris and Wizards forward Markieff Morris became the first set of twins to play against each other on Christmas Day.

— Monday’s game was the first Christmas Day game in Boston in Celtics franchise history.

— Boston doubled Washington in turnovers by a 16-8 margin.

— Entering Monday, the Wizards hadn’t won in Boston since April 2014.