BOSTON — Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant. Kyrie Irving.
What do all three players have in common?
When the game is on the line, they elevate their play to another level. Some call it clutch or cold-blooded, but to Irving, it’s simply “go time.”
The Boston Celtics star point guard lit up the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night at TD Garden. Irving burned down the nets to the tune of 36 points on 12-for-21 shooting, including going 5-for-8 from beyond the 3-point line in Boston’s 108-97 win.
Boston led by 10 to start the third quarter, but the lead was cut in half by the time the final stanza began, which is when Irving put the game away.
The 25-year-old star scored nine points and notched two assists in the fourth, as the 76ers were unable to find a way to slow him down.
Throughout his NBA career, Irving has been known to play his best when the tension is at its highest. One only has to look at his championship-clinching shot in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals to realize his late-game greatness.
So what makes Irving so good in the clutch? It’s simple; he’s blessed.
“It’s go time,” Irving said when asked about why he’s great in the fourth quarter. “It’s go time man, especially when the game is in the balance, it’s the best time to play. Just ultimate freedom to just really showcase what you’ve been working on because you’re that you’re going to get team to team’s best shot on the other end. They’re going to do things that they probably wanted to adjust to throughout the game, so a lot of the opportunities that were there in the first three quarters probably won’t be there.
“You have to make very quick decisions in terms of what you want to do with the basketball and where guys need to be on the floor. When you’re playing like that some guys think quicker than others, and I’m just fortunate enough that my mind works a lot quicker than other people in the fourth quarter. ”
Irving currently is third in the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring, averaging 7.1 points per final period.
His uncanny ability to come up clutch gives the Celtics something few teams in the NBA possess: a closer.
