After weeks of practice, the Boston Celtics took part in a real (exhibition) game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Celtics lost to the Thunder 98-84, and Jaylen Brown believes the double-digit defeat was telling sign pointing to the team’s current status. After the game, Brown was refreshingly honest about the Celtics’ current conditioning.
“I think we’re not in as good a shape as a team as we thought we were,” Brown told The Athletic’s Jared Weiss.
Brown added that the Thunder guards exposed Boston’s backcourt by “getting downhill on them too easily.” The good news for the Celtics is the team has a little less than a week to clean things up before they resume the season on July 31 against the Bucks. However, the downside is the Celtics are going to find it challenging to get in much better shape before the season re-starts.
“We have a short amount of time to get to the peak of the level that we want to get at, but we’ve got to do what it takes,” Brown noted via the Celtics Twitter account.
Kemba Walker Did Not Play vs. Thunder
Kemba Walker was held out of action against the Thunder as he continues to nurse a knee injury. The Celtics have publicly maintained that they are not concerned about Walker’s knee, but it is hard to imagine there is not any anxiety given the All-Star guard had more than three months off to rest. Celtics Brad Stevens indicated that Walker has not been ruled out for the team’s next scrimmage but added they are trying to take a cautious approach in managing his injury.
“The way that these days are scheduled, we have gym time for our games or practices and then we have some open shooting times at night,” Stevens explained, per USA Today. “If [Walker] doesn’t go while we’re here in a practice gym, he’ll go tonight with part of his path that he’s on. …Tomorrow he’ll go live and practice again, which we’ll have to manage appropriately based on minutes.”
Enes Kanter Led the Celtics With 11 Points & 10 Rebounds
Enes Kanter was one of the lone bright spots for the Celtics against the Thunder. Kanter had a team-high 11 points and 10 rebounds in just 13 minutes during the team’s first exhibition game in Orlando. Thunder center Steven Adams punished the Celtics with 17 points and looked to be the most dominant player on the floor, at times.
“The good news is no one gets any stronger than Steven Adams,” Stevens admitted to The Athletic.
Javonte Green, Marcus Smart and Tremont Waters all showed signs of life on defense with each player notching three steals. Earlier this week, Stevens noted that Brown and Jayson Tatum have showed leadership growth in different ways that have helped the team.
“When Tatum got named an All-Star, Tatum went to a different level,” Stevens explained, per Celtics. “And when Jaylen didn’t get named an All-Star, Jaylen went to a different level. That’s a great response by both guys in two different circumstances.”
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Jaylen Brown Sounds Off on Celtics’ Weakness After Blowout Loss