The Celtics have turned Kyrie Irving into a new player

Kyrie Irving has been nothing short of phenomenal this year. His lethal combination of usage and efficiency has truly elevated him into the superstar stratosphere. The top line numbers aren’t that different from what they’ve been in previous seasons, but they’ve gotten better across the board in a much different situation than he’s been in the past. Irving is the primary engine for Boston’s offense when he’s on the floor, and he and Al Horford have developed a chemistry in just a handful of games that takes other pairings years to cultivate.

Irving’s ability to score is and will always be the primary value his brings to his team. He’s one of the few players in the league who can accurately score at all three levels: at the rim, in midrange and from the perimeter. His shots are almost exactly equally spread out between those three areas and he hits at an above-average rate in each of them. His aptitude for putting the ball in the basket from anywhere on the court and his willingness to shoot from pretty much anywhere makes him an immensely dangerous and unpredictable player whom defenses have to combat.

Of course, none of this is different than where Irving has been in the past. He came into the league as a high-level scorer and has only improved as he’s aged. What has changed this season is how he’s getting his points — he’s running far fewer pick-and-rolls and isolations, eschewing those less efficient possessions for more hand offs, shots off screens and spot-up looks.

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Hand offs in particular have skyrocketed for Irving, just as they did for Isaiah Thomas last season. Irving has run more than two times as many hand offs this year as a percentage of his overall usage and is using more hand offs than Thomas did last season in the same role, all while staying ultra-efficient. Only two players have received more hand offs than Irving, and neither of them are anywhere near his level of efficiency on those plays.

One set the Celtics and Brad Stevens particularly likes is one I’m calling Horns Hand Off, where the ball is entered to Horford on one of the elbows and Irving comes from the other elbow for the hand off. Boston runs this play in the fourth quarter of close games when they need a basket, and Irving usually delivers.

Irving and Horford have a great partnership on these kinds of plays. Their skills mesh perfectly; Horford is the perfect big man for Stevens’ system (or really, any system) and Irving is an adept scorer and passer once he gets the ball from Horford. Horford’s ability to space out to the 3-point line is especially useful to Irving, who needs no more than a sliver of daylight to get to the rim. Horford opens that door completely for his point guard and Irving takes full advantage.

Watch how Tyson Chandler, Horford’s defender, follows him out to the 3-point line, taking the Suns’ only rim protector completely out of the paint:

It’s no wonder the Celtics score at a level commensurate with Houston and Golden State when these two are on the floor together. Even when going against starter-level defenses geared up to stop them, they bring the best out of each other and work so well together that the offense hums no matter what.

Another play they’ll run every so often gets Irving going to the basket quickly, making it impossible for Horford’s man to help even if he wanted to:

Horford’s defender, John Henson, has to follow his man all the way to the 3-point line, which perfectly opens the back door for Irving to burst through. If Horford were a traditional big man, Henson could lay back much further in the lane, but Horford’s ability to shoot and make plays for others from the top of the key forces Henson out of the paint and out of his comfort zone. Henson actually does an admirable job getting his hands up at the rim, but Irving’s finishing ability is too good to be deterred.

Irving’s finishing around the basket is the one area in which he’s dramatically improved over previous seasons. He hasn’t just broken through the 60 percent mark around the basket. He’s completely shattered it. Irving’s currently shooting 67 percent at the rim this season, a 10-point improvement over last season and an eight-point improvement over his previous career-high. Boston’s spacing has a lot to do with it, but it’s not as if Cleveland has had poor shooters surrounding Irving and LeBron James the past few years. Instead, it’s plays like the ones above that help Irving get easier shots around the rim and boost his efficiency, in addition to his borderline inhuman skill in that area.

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At first glance, it doesn’t seem that Irving’s numbers are all that different than they were in Cleveland, but the opportunities he’s getting are much easier than they’ve ever been, even when he was playing with the greatest player on the planet. Stevens’ plays and Horford’s do-it-all abilities offensively have created even better chances for Irving to do what he does best: get buckets.