I know Kyrie Irving is now promoting peace. He's seemingly turned over a new leaf. And he's not the same Irving we've grown accustomed to for — checks notes — the entirety of his career.
I don't care.
I don't care what this new Kyrie Irving is about — he's going to want to kill the Boston Celtics.
It may be more so the organization and the team in the spirit of competition — and maybe the fans, as much as we may not feel like he shows it this time — but this can't be a non-factor heading into the NBA Finals.
So, how do you bet that? How do you bet on intangibles?
If it were easy, we wouldn't use as much data as we do.
But we'll talk through it, looking at a few things that make sense regarding a potential revenge series around the arguably greatest ball-handler in basketball history.
Kyrie Irving's Scoring
I don't think Irving is in line for an amazing scoring series in totality.
It's hard to say otherwise, given that he'll be guarded by a Derrick White/Jrue Holiday backcourt, with the possibility of getting Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum on switches.
But let's see.
Matchups will be fluid in this series. Maybe he can get a screen and have some shots at guys like Al Horford or is up against a rotation with Payton Pritchard on the floor. But overall, it's unlikely that Irving goes nuts consistently.
Now, to be fair, Irving just averaged 27.0 points and 4.6 assists against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the best defense in the league, while shooting 49/38/81 splits. And we didn't collectively think it'd be a great Irving series given his struggles in the previous round.
White and Holiday are beyond well-equipped for the challenge. But it might not matter if Irving is playing like — in terms of talent — the all-time great that he is.
In the scoring realm, I don't think Irving will be on a heater all series consistently, but I think he'll have multiple 30-point games. He had three against the Wolves and three against the Clippers.
We'll probably get a sub-20 or two mixed in as well, and multiple duds wouldn't surprise me. But those, betting-wise, are game-to-game dependent. We'll get a better feel after Thursday for how this may go. That's just basketball.
For the series, I think Irving to make more 3s than Tatum is worth a shot.
Tatum is shooting 29% from 3 in the playoffs and has gone 2-for-7 per game on average in the postseason. Irving has gone 2.6-for-6.3 on average, good for 42.1% from deep.
The on-ball pressure could force Irving to up his 3-point volume as a counter, so this is, at minimum, worth a look.
Lean: Irving to Make More 3s Than Tatum (+105 · DraftKings)
Kyrie Irving's Passing
This one is simpler for me. The on-ball pressure, you would think, should turn Irving into more of a passer.
My colleague, Joe Dellera, told me that he bet Irving at over 3.5 assists every game in this series at +500 on ESPN Bet — I love that and wanted to shout it out.
A non-long shot I'd look at is Irving over 4.6 assists per game in the series on DraftKings at -115. The 4.6 tally was his exact average in the Western Conference Finals.
He also sat at 6.2 against the Thunder, where he was playing more like a facilitator and, frankly, wasn't that good in the series. Against the Clippers, he came in at 4.7.
He has only one double-digit assist game in the playoffs, but another in this series wouldn't shock me here. Plus, it would certainly help the average.
Pick: Irving Over 4.6 Assists Per Game (-115 · DraftKings)
