Celtics vs. Knicks: Kemba Walker chemistry with Jaylen Brown, 5 arguments

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The Boston Celtics had their worst performance of the season on Sunday, dropping 105-75 for the New York Knicks, with Kemba Walker making his season debut.

Here are five lessons from a game that the Celtics probably prefer to forget.

Kemba Walker does not foresee any problems of reintegration with Jaylen Brown.

One element of Walker’s return that probably deserves some attention is his chemistry with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Last season, Walker took on a tertiary role during the postseason, but he never seemed to be moving well and his role made a lot of sense.

Now Walker looks healthy and told reporters after the game that he is pain free. When the rust disappears (he committed five of Boston’s 17 twists and turns), he will play an important role in the Celtics’ attack again – he started last year’s All-Star game and was an All-NBA team two years ago. This attack will be a big boost for a Celtics team that lost Gordon Hayward’s production.

The Celtics prospered with the ball in the hands of Jaylen Brown. Per Cleaning the Glass, Brown’s usage rate has been 28.2 percent so far this season – a career high by a significant amount. With more confidence, Brown did more: 25.8 points with divisions of 53.7 / 41.9 / 80.

Clearly, the Celtics need to keep the ball in Brown’s hands, and Walker does not anticipate any problems.

“None. Absolutely none,” said Walker. “He just has to keep being super aggressive, and that’s it. With me, I’ll be there and do my part. I’m going to play hard, I’m going to shoot my shots wide open. He’s killing. I don’t want him to. he thinks only because I’m back, he can’t keep killing, because he can. That’s what I’m here for. I’m here to continue to encourage him to be great, what he’s been doing all year. I just want to try add something to it. That’s it. “

Walker is not sure how long he will have a minute restriction.

Walker fell hard in the third quarter after being kicked in the ribs, and he returned briefly to the locker room. After assuring Brad Stevens that he was fine (and that he wasn’t lying), Walker still hasn’t returned to the ground due to his 20-minute limit.

After the game, Walker said he wasn’t sure how long he would have restrictions, but he felt great.

“I’ll be honest, I hope it ends in the next game,” he said. “But I’m sure it will be for a few games. I’m coming back. We just want to see how my knee reacts after those games and stuff. However, it will increase. I will get there. There’s no hurry. I already took a long time to come back and I will continue to take my time until I am full. “

The Celtics were terrible in almost every area.

You can start with the counting statistics for the Celtics and run almost all the way to the line. The Celtics threw 29.8 percent from the ground, 15.2 percent from three and 62.1 percent from the free-throw line. Two players scored double digits, one of which – Marcus Smart – scored 10 points from a 4-in-15 shot. They turned the ball 17 times and gave 10 offensive rebounds. The Knicks surpassed the Celtics by 48-32 in the paint and 38-25 on the bench.

Go a little deeper and the numbers will be even worse. By Sean Grande of 98.5, Boston’s 29.8 percent performance was his in 17 years. Boston’s 37-point deficit in the fourth quarter, however, was the biggest at TD Garden since the Celtics’ 53-point loss to Detroit in 2003.

Sunday’s ugliest statistic …

At 29.8%, it was the worst Celtics shooting game in 17 years (January 5, 2004 vs. Detroit)

37 was the biggest Celtics deficit since March 2015 in Cleveland, the biggest at home since the historic 53 point loss to Detroit on January 31, 2003 https://t.co/UXoyKRJarB

– Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) January 17, 2021

“They played a lot more than we did,” said Daniel Theis. “They really whipped our ass from the first minute. Playing ball everywhere, we had so many turns that we couldn’t get it right. So, let’s look at the movie, but then it moves on. You will have nights like this, but I hope it will only be one or two nights in the entire season. We can live with it if we learn from it, and move on to the next game, and just play harder, play our way again. “

Brad Stevens is not sure whether the quarantined players will be back before Wednesday (if Wednesday’s game is played).

The Celtics could use Jayson Tatum and Rob Williams against the Philadelphia 76ers, but Stevens doesn’t know if any of them will still be available. Based on their quarantine schedules, Wednesday is the first period that both can return.

“All of this will depend on what the next few days will look like,” said Stevens. “Everyone has their own different test protocols that they must follow and the schedule they should be on. So, I don’t know what to expect on Wednesday night. Let’s just play it by ear and go with the information we receive every morning. “

However, the Celtics may not even need to travel until Wednesday. The Sixers’ game against Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday was postponed as Philly was forced to quarantine due to contact tracking. By Kyle Neubeck of Philly Voice, the Sixers have no positive tests to report, but they played against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday, who played against Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves on Wednesday. Cities recently tested positive for COVID.

The most important thing on Sunday was simply putting Walker back on the roster.

An afternoon tip with two players lost due to COVID against a lottery team in mid-January is a recipe for a trap game. Add Walker’s new element, as well as recent New York fights, and Sunday’s result won’t be surprising.

None of this excuses the loss, of course, and the Celtics did not apologize. The point is that Sunday’s game – although ugly and presumably embarrassing for the Celtics – probably doesn’t justify panic.

“We were defeated by a better team than we are today,” said Stevens. “This is the beautiful part of basketball. You are good at playing well in those 48 minutes. That’s it, that’s all that matters in a given game. “