Kyrie Irving goes for 47 - another MVP-worthy performance


Kyrie Irving had another masterpiece last night against the Mavericks. What else can you call it? A total of 47 points on 16/22 from the floor, five-of-seven from the arc and 10/11 on free throws. He had 10 of those points in overtime, and he also added eight assists, three rebounds and a steal. The victory gave Boston their 16th win in a row.



This wasn't just a great performance by Kyrie, it reaffirmed just how terrific he is in Clutch Time. The Dallas game gave him a firm hold on NBA's Clutch Time lead in points scored. He is now well ahead of Dion Waiters, Kristaps Porzingis, Damien Lillard and - ironically enough - Lebron James, in that order.


I may run out of adjectives before the end of this article. Not only was it a clutch performance, it was another efficient one. In the past two games, Irving has scored 77 points on 76% on field goals, 77% on threes and 93% from the charity stripe. If these two games are not MVP-worthy performances, I don't know what one of those would look like.



Players that teams rely on for points often are also the clutch performers. In the tweet below, the name of Kyrie Irving is surrounded by the many appearances of Paul Pierce and Isaiah Thomas. Paul and Isaiah are two of the best clutch performers in Celtics history, including others such as Sam Jones, John Havlicek, Larry Bird and many others.



Clutch, efficient, MVP-worthy, dynamic, verbally-playful, unselfish. Any other adjectives our readers can think of to describe this young dynamo? Oh yes - young. Looks like a bright future.

Follow Tom at @TomLaneHC

Photo via Tony Gutierez/AP


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