Kyrie Irving has one of the best handles in the NBA. You can get lost just watching the Celtics star guard dribble around someone until he gets to the basket. In a way, it’s almost hypnotic because it’s insane that he can do so much with the ball despite his long arms and body.
On Saturday, Irving got matched up against Warriors forward Andre Iguodala. For years, Iguodala was considered one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders. Age has gotten to him a bit, but he’s still one of the smartest players in the league. You can’t just bring out a bunch of moves against him and expect to get by. That is unless you’re Irving. Even Iguodala can’t help but be broken down by Irving’s crazy handle.
This Kyrie layup tied the Celtics at 108 (@AAANe_MAnews) #AAANortheast pic.twitter.com/aTZ4ZNAGwW
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) January 27, 2019
Iguodala played pretty close to perfect defense, but in the NBA great offense will always beat great defense. You can do everything possible, but if a shot is going to go in then it’s gonna fall in. Sometimes the best a defender can do is give props to the offense and run back down for the next play. That’s what Iguodala did, but he also gave props to Irving’s move afterward on Twitter.
That shit was cold!!
— andre (@andre) January 27, 2019
Irving has always been someone that earned the respect of the Warriors. Especially after his huge shot for Cleveland in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. So when Iguodala got beat by Irving he didn’t see it as just someone getting a lucky shot off on him. This was a guy that earned his spot in this league and he earns his buckets against the Warriors. Game respect game and Iguodala respects Irving.
