Celtics Record Without Kyrie Irving Remains Shockingly Impressive

Six-time NBA All-Star and former 2011 NBA Draft No. 1 overall pick Kyrie Irving may have moved on to the Brooklyn Nets in the 2019-20 offseason after a two-year stint with the Celtics, but the legacy he left in Boston is still alive and well.

The Celtics saw considerable success in both of Kyrie's two seasons with Boston from 2017-19, but that not's to say he had an integral role in leading them to it. In fact, the Celtics finished with a better record in both the regular and postseason without Kyrie on the floor.

Celtics Record Without Kyrie Irving

Kyrie missed a total of 56 games across his two seasons in Boston, and the Celtics posted a combined 37-19 (.6607) record without him. Ironically enough, that .6607 winning percentage without Kyrie is better than Boston's 104-60 (.6341) combined regular-season record over the two years Kyrie played with the Celtics.

Celtics Record With Kyrie Irving

Including two postseason runs, Boston played 192 total games in Kyrie's time with the Celtics, posting an 83-53 (.6103) record in games with him.

Celtics Regular-Season Record Without Kyrie Irving

The Celtics went 14-8 in the 22 regular-season games that Kyrie missed in 2017-18 and 12-3 in the 15 regular-season performances he missed in 2018-19, combining for a 26-11 record without him.

Celtics Playoff Record Without Kyrie Irving

As for the postseason, the Celtics were only without Kyrie for the 2018 NBA Playoffs, when they finished with an 11-8 record through a run to the Eastern Conference Finals. When Kyrie was healthy for all nine of Boston's playoff games the following year (2019), he led the Celtics to just a 5-4 postseason record in a run that ended in the second round.

Kyrie is still widely considered one of the top individual talents in the league, especially at the point guard position, but it just goes to show that doesn't always translate to a winning talent in a league like the NBA.

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David Hayes is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David Hayes also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username DavidWHayes. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.