GAME 15 DIRKIE: KYRIE!!

[ItsGoTime]

Kyrie was clearly the MVP of the game, but I still stick to the old “elevated his game” standard and I don’t think he was dramatically better (28 points/6 boards on 50% shooting) than normal Kyrie.

The lineup of Kyrie, THJ, Green and Holmes (and to a smaller degree Exum) was fantastic in building the lead in the late first and early second (and getting a large lead back in the late 3rd).  Green was fantastic during the run that built the lead.  But 15 point Josh isn’t that dramatically better than my expectation for him (better than recent play yes, but the outlier is the recent play).

I think you have to go with Holmes.  He was part of the most effective lineups that built the lead and played dramatically better than usual (a very low standard when you don’t play at all).

This probably belongs in the game thread, but I think some of the shine has faded on GWill.  Hardy missed two shots to start the 4th.  GWill then missed two open 3’s (felt a lot like the early 4th quarter of the Sacramento game) and then Luka took over and played hero ball because no one could score (and he couldn’t score either).  DJJ’s +/- the last five games has been -10, +5, +0, -21 and -10.  Its a good thing we’ve seen a more impactful and efficient version of Green the last two games.

I agree with all of this. As far as luster wearing off. Need to be on the lookout for Exum. His defender was giving him the Simmons treatment all night. Either take and make those wide open shots or it’ll keep happening.