Boston Celtics: Kyrie Irving’s Knee

Kyrie Irving’s “minimally invasive” left knee procedure could wind up having an outsized impact on the Boston Celtics’ postseason hopes.nfl wholesale jerseys

A three- to six-week timetable doesn’t guarantee his return before the end of the first round, let alone the start of the playoffs altogether. And if he’s unable to suit up, the Celtics face the prospect of an immediate exit.

It doesn’t matter that they have the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed. Possible matchups with the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards (assuming John Wall returns) have close-call potential even if the Celtics are at full capacity.nfl jerseys from china

Remove Irving from the equation, and Boston may forfeit favorite status in any one of those hypothetical series.

Indeed, the Celtics have shown they can survive without Irving. Al Horford continues to headline units that outscore opponents by 9.7  official nfl jerseys cheap points per 100 possessions whenever he plays without the All-Star point man. And the defense remains sturdy in the time rookie Jayson Tatum logs on his own.

But generating consistent offense without Irving is a chore the Celtics aren’t fit to complete in a playoff setting. They score like a bottom-three attack when he’s on the bench and don’t have a proven face-up alpha on which to lean in crunch time.

Tatum will be that player one day, just not now. Ditto for Jaylen Brown. Horford can helm an offense by himself for 43 minutes or so, but he’s not the from-scratch dribble-driver needed to excel with the game on the line. (Most big men aren’t, by the way. Boston is lucky Horford is nimble and effective at pump-and-drives from above the break.)reebok nfl jerseys

The Celtics have turned to Irving during high-pressure moments accordingly.

Among the 328 players to make at least five crunch-time appearances, only LeBron James has a higher usage rate or averages more shot attempts per 36 minutes. And just as the Cavaliers would have no way of offsetting his absence, the Celtics don’t have the experience, one-on-one maestros or healthy 6’8″nfl authentic jerseys  All-Star safety nets to last without him.