It involved a steal, a fall, a tap, an impossible pass and an alley-oop, and it was an example of how smooth and poetic things can appear for the Celtics when everyone is in lockstep.

So after the Celtics’ 118-109 win over the Timberwolves was complete Saturday night, Irving simply sat at his locker, opened up Instagram on his iPhone and quietly relived the most spectacular play of his team’s season, a play that had been crafted about one hour earlier.

MINNEAPOLIS — There was a time when Kyrie Irving would have had to wait for a highlight show to come on to look back at a spectacular moment like this one. But times are different now, with information and slam dunks essentially available for consumption in real time.


“Oh,” Irving said, later “we’ll have a few more sequences like that . . . but it just shows you the cohesion we’re still building, and just trusting our guys out there.”

It should come as little surprise that both the play’s start and its most remarkable moment were orchestrated by Marcus Smart, whose insertion into the starting lineup seems to have invigorated these Celtics.

“Those are the plays that if the opposing team makes those plays on you, that’s devastating for you,” Smart said. “That’s when the breath comes out of your body at the gym and the energy goes down. And for the team that’s making that play, it brings the energy up and gives them the momentum they need.”

The play began with about eight minutes left in the third quarter and the Celtics holding a 10-point lead.

Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins started to drive to the basket and faced a double-team from Smart and Al Horford, so he leapt and tried to kick a pass to Karl-Anthony Towns near the top of the key. But Smart anticipated this and used his left hand to gather the steal for a moment. He was not balanced, though, and Towns knocked the ball away as Smart landed on his backside.


At this point, Irving and Jayson Tatum saw the scattered nature of the play and sensed opportunity. Irving sprinted down the right side of the court and Tatum filled the left lane. Smart had no idea what would happen next, and he had not seen Irving take off, but he had noticed Tatum out of the corner of his eye, and he had stored that information.

As the loose ball bounced toward Minnesota’s basket, Marcus Morris stepped forward and used his right hand to tap the ball forward before Towns could do the same for his team. It went directly to Smart, who had gone from lying down to sitting down as he caught the ball with two hands.

“As I was on the ground I just remembered Jayson running past me,” Smart said. “So when [Morris] tapped it to me, my first instinct was just to get it to Jayson as quick as I can. I didn’t even see Kyrie on the other side, so it just kind of worked out perfectly. I knew exactly where Jayson was. I knew we had two players down the court. I just didn’t know who.”

Falling backward, Smart heaved a no-look, two-handed fastball to Tatum, who caught it without a bounce about 30 feet away. It was a perfect toss.


“He just flung it over his head,” Morris said, smiling and shaking his head. “The pass was just crazy.”

Tatum immediately fed Irving, who took one dribble before lofting an alley-oop to Tatum, who flushed it cleanly. The Timberwolves fans couldn’t help but gasp.

The Celtics players on the bench instantly stood and flexed their muscles and pointed to their teammates on the court. The Timberwolves called timeout, and Morris and Smart clapped their hands forcefully as the team headed back to the bench.

The play was notable because it was, well, a pretty cool play. But it was also significant because of what it stood for. It was not Irving simply crushing a defender with an enchanting drive to the basket in isolation. Instead, it involved all five players on the court.

It involved defense and offense and passing and awareness. It involved some of the things that the Celtics were lacking when they sputtered to a 10-10 start.

And it is no accident that it all started with Smart. Before Saturday’s game, Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau was asked about Smart’s impact since entering the starting lineup. His answer was simple, truthful, and somewhat prescient.

“I don’t know what he does other than make winning plays.”

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.