Getty Kemba Walker, Celtics
For the Celtics, it was not a game-changing nine minutes. But as the team tries to build momentum heading into the NBA’s restart in Orlando, which, for Boston, will open on Friday against Milwaukee, getting All-Star point guard Kemba Walker back on the floor, even for that limited stretch, was a good start.
Walker scored 6 points on 2-for-6 shooting in the Celtics’ scrimmage win over the Suns on Sunday, after he missed the opening scrimmage on Friday with a persistent and worrying knee problem.
“Just looking to take steps forward,” Walker told reporters after the game.
Walker has been limited in his practice time as he entered the NBA’s “bubble” environment on the league’s campus at Disney World. He is also on a minutes restriction as the Celtics ramp up toward playing games that count. Boston plays one more scrimmage, on Tuesday against Houston.
The NBA Season Restart Scrimmage Schedule!
From July 22-28, participating teams will compete in three inter-squad scrimmages in final preparation for the resumption of the season on July 30. #WholeNewGame
Walker was clear that, although he will stick to his minutes restriction, he is not fond of it. But he’s keeping the big picture in mind.
“Of course, I mean, yeah I would love to just be like, ‘You know what? I don’t care about no minutes restriction or anything of that nature,’” Walker said at his press conference after the scrimmage. “But obviously, I can’t, I have got to be smart about things at this point. It just is what it is. I am going to be there for my teammates in the playoffs. Hopefully, by then, the restrictions and things of that nature is completely off.”
Kemba Walker’s Knee is Celtics’ Biggest Question Mark
Walker’s knee is one of the big questions coming into the season restart for the Celtics. It has been an injury that has cropped up from time to time throughout his career but has been especially mysterious and recurring this year.
Back on January 31, Walker’s knee problem first caused him to appear on the team’s injury report. The Celtics universally downplayed the severity of the problem, with coach Brad Stevens saying, “It’s a short-term thing.”
It wasn’t. He would up missing three games, then played terribly in the four games after returning, struggling to attack the rim and shooting 32.8% from the floor. Walker, bizarrely, then played more than 29 minutes in the All-Star game.
Walker had an injection to help with the swelling after the All-Star break but the problem worsened and Walker missed six of his next seven games. He played three games just before the shutdown and averaged 12.7 points on 27.9% shooting and 20.8% 3-point shooting.
Kemba Walker: ‘You Have to Adjust and Adapt’
The Celtics figure to need Walker’s ability to create and score at the rim—something that was severely hampered in the games he played after the All-Star game—when the playoffs come around. This is a team that is building toward the future but harbors an outside hope of reaching the NBA Finals this year. Walker’s explosiveness in the halfcourt is one reason for that hope.
That’s the team goal. Walker is not looking at it that way, though.
“I don’t make goals, honestly,” he said. “I don’t make goals, I just, I don’t know—I don’t. That’s not something I ever really did. I just work hard and hope my hard work pays off. Do I have dreams of winning the championship? No question. I do think we have that opportunity, I think we can get there one day. But we just have got to keep working towards that as a team, keep getting better.”
The injury has been a bizarre wrinkle in the season for Walker, who is in the first year of a four-year, $141 million contract he signed last summer. But with the coronavirus hiatus behind them and months (hopefully) of life in the Orlando bubble, playing games without fans in the arena, ahead of them, bizarre will be the word that defines the remainder of this season.
Walker is ready for it.
“It’s tough without the fans,” Walker said. “I definitely would have loved to experience the Garden in the playoffs, one of the greatest atmospheres in the playoffs. But like I said, you just have to adjust and adapt to your situation. It is what it is here.”
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