Kyrie Irving taking over Isaiah Thomas' role of Celtics' fourth-quarter king

People found out in the 2015 NBA Finals Kyrie Irving had the ability to come up big in the fourth quarter. His go-ahead 3-pointer in the Cavaliers' series-clinching win over the Warriors labled him as a go-to-guy in the final minutes of the game for Cleveland.

Since being traded to the Celtics this year he has only reinforced the opinion. Irving is third in the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring with 7.1 points per game, and his nine points in the fourth quarter of Thursday's win over the 76ers helped Boston seal the deal against one of the best young teams in the NBA. Irving expects to play well in the closing minutes now.

"Some guys think a lot quicker than others," Irving told reporters after the game via ESPN. "I was just fortunate enough that my mind works a lot quicker than other people in the fourth quarter. So it just gets me going a little bit."

Celtics coach Brad Stevens is the type of game manager who likes to dictate the pace of the game and find ways to get his players open shots in the first half. He is one of the best in the game at scheming against opponents and getting opportunities for his players with a well-timed screen or mismatch.

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Late in games, though, he allows more freedom to create, which gives Irving the chance to make plays in isolation. When Irving gets the chance to go one-on-one with a fellow point guard, his ball-handling ability and quickness make him tough to match up with. His ability to finish makes it even harder.

"I say all the time how spoiled we are to coach players at this level," Stevens said. "[Irving is] certainly one of the most gifted scorers in the game. He can do things with just a tiny amount of space and make it look easy, and it's really, really tough. He made a couple of one-on-one plays late where he drove it, but even the dribble handoff shot that he made in the corner, it was pretty well defended. He just has a special ability."