Getty Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown walk off the court during a timeout in overtime against the Golden State Warriors.
All season long the Boston Celtics have proven themselves to be one of, if not the best team in the entire association when healthy. That said, Fastbreak reporter Ben Stinar believes that Joe Mazzulla’s rotation could still use for some bolstering before they embark on their quest for banner number 18.
In a recently penned article, Stinar stated that despite the fact that the C’s have one of the most talented rosters in the NBA, he believes they still “could use more point guard depth.”
His solution to this predicament: bring back former franchise point guard and current free agent point guard Kemba Walker to have him reunite with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
“Walker is not the star he once was, but he has a lot of experience, and there would be no risk in signing him. From 2019-21, the former UConn star played 99 regular season games with the Celtics and averaged 19.9 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds per contest. In 2020, he also helped lead the team to the Eastern Conference Finals as their starting point guard. The NBA Playoffs are a lot different than the regular season, and sometimes role players can have a significant impact on winning a series or not. Injuries, foul trouble and slumps are all things that can happen to starting players, so having the right reserves is essential,” Stinar wrote.
Kemba’s first bucket as a Maverick! 👏🏽
Kemba Walker last was seen suiting up in the NBA for the Dallas Mavericks earlier this season. He saw on-court action on nine separate occasions, posting averages of 8.0 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists before being waived by the franchise on January 6.
Though the idea of having the 32-year-old come back to the Celtics is certainly entertaining from a feel-good perspective when taking into account his injury history coupled with the fact that, despite Stinar’s claims of shallow point guard depth, they already have a well-rounded talent pool within their backcourt rotation headlined by Marcus Smart, Derrick White, and Malcolm Brogdon, it’s hard to view this proposed concept as anything more than a pipe-dream.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Issues Statement After Loss to Celtics
Thursday night, the Boston Celtics absolutely decimated top-seeded Milwaukee by a final score of 140-99.
Directly following the game, superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo issued an attention-grabbing statement, as the two-time MVP noted that this loss to the C’s was a wake-up call that his Bucks have to improve heading into the postseason.
“Know what the deal is? It’s not hard to understand,” Giannis said. “If you you’re not focused. If you don’t play hard, they’re gonna kick ass, simple as that. They did it tonight and won by 40. If you’re not locked in, if you don’t play hard, and if don’t go out there to make it tough for them, they’re gonna kick out ass. Simple as that. There’s no level of concern. It’s a fact. So now you have this in your head. And this is up to us to see how we’re gonna deal with it. Are we gonna go and play the same way? And if we play the same way, gonna have the same outcome. Gotta change some stuff. We gotta compete. Gotta have some pride, you know, and hopefully, we can do that; then, if we do that, we have a chance to win.”
“It’s not hard to understand if you’re not focused, if you don’t play hard, they [are] going to kick your ass simple as that.”
— Giannis Antetokounmpo on the #Bucks 41 point loss to the #Celtics
📺Full Interview: t.co/4UvF6EHNam
⚡️by @FanDuel & @AthleticGreens
With this game now in the books, the Celtics find themselves just two wins behind Milwaukee in the race for the number one seed in the Eastern Conference standings while also holding the edge in a tie-breaker, as they won the season series two games to one.
Bucks Coach Sounds Off on Celtics’ Offense
During his post-game media session, Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer went on record to praise the Boston Celtics for their offensive efforts during Friday’s smackdown at their expense and went on to compliment the club for their highly versatile scoring approach.
“I mean, they execute,” Budenholzer said. “They cut hard, they screen hard, and they shoot them off the dribble. That’s probably the biggest thing. So, we got to look at it; we got to find a way to be better against the three-point line.”
The Boston Celtics not only won their bout against the Bucks by a 41-point margin, but they also went on to shoot 56.0% from the floor and 51.2% from distance while Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for a whopping 70 points on 65.7% shooting from the floor and 73.3% shooting from deep.