While the Boston Celtics are still searching for consistent rhythm as they prepare for the postseason, Kemba Walker has certainly found his.
The veteran point guard is in the midst of his hottest stretch of basketball since joining the Celtics last season, and Tuesday night’s effort against Miami was his best of the 2020-21 campaign.
Despite his team suffering a 129-121 loss, Walker poured in a season-high 36 points to go along with seven rebounds, four assists, and a steal, while committing just one turnover in 38-plus minutes of action. This represented just one of a handful of high-volume scoring efforts for Walker of late, as it marked his fourth 30-point performance in his last six games after he had logged just one such effort in his first 37 appearances of the season.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens has said all along that in order for the Celtics to have any hope of achieving postseason success this season, they’ll need Walker to be at his best. And right now, he’s doing his part as the team’s most consistent source of energy over the past several games.
“Kemba is obviously an enormous key for us,” Stevens said. “I thought he did a lot of good things tonight. His energy is something that we need at a high level for us to be the best that we can be. We need it from everybody, but certainly, he’s had a good couple of weeks here from an individual standpoint.”
The Celtics especially need it now that Jaylen Brown will miss the remainder of the season after tearing a ligament in his left wrist. For Boston, that leaves a void of about 25 points per game, of which Walker is trying to help fill.
“Obviously, we don't have Jaylen, so I just have to be a little bit more aggressive," said Walker, who shot 14-of-27 from the field against Miami. "The shots have been falling for me. That's ust what I gotta do at this point. We're down one of our better scorers, a guy who averages a whole bunch of points. Gotta try to make up for that someway, somehow. I just want to continue to do what I can to take the opportunities that are presented to me.”
Walker also hopes that his team can seize the opportunity that lies in front of them, as they seem more and more likely to land in the postseason play-in tournament as the season nears its end. And he will do his part to push them forward from whatever situation they end up in.
“We just want to try to finish as strong as we can and see how everything plays out and just take it game by game,” he said. “That’s all you can do. You can’t sit back and complain or anything like that. You try to continue to get better, try to push forward, try to stay together as a team, which is on myself and a few other guys as well.”
Walker is doing his part to finish strong, as he has averaged 28.5 points per game over his last six contests, while shooting 51.3 percent from the field, including 43.9 percent from 3-point range. Now it’s up to the rest of the team to follow his lead.
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