Boston Celtics: Kemba Walker Looks Like His Old Self

Although the Boston Celtics lost to the Philadelphia 76ers by a score of 117-109 on Wednesday night, Cs fans should be happy and excited for this season.

First, without Jayson Tatum and Robert Williams, the team competed against one of the favorites in the east. More importantly, Kemba Walker looked physically ready to help his team compete for a championship.

He ended the game with 19 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field in 22 minutes of action. Before he returned, coach Brad Stevens mentioned wanting to keep him around 20 minutes for the first couple of games. He saved his last few minutes for the end of the game in this one, as it was close down the stretch.

Kemba Walker looked like he was back to his old ways with the Boston Celtics

Throughout the first half, most of the offense revolved around the All-Star point guard, scoring 17 points.

He repeatedly attacked the Philadelphia bigs in the high pick and roll, particularly Dwight Howard, leading to open threes off of screens. His chemistry with center Daniel Theis was as strong as ever, playing the two-man game to perfection.

The Celtics had successful plays from all three stages of the pick and roll — Walker pulling up for three/ finding Theis at the rim, and Theis popping out to his three from beyond the arc.

With a year already under their belt, Walker will always look best when Theis is on the floor.

Not only that, he is the best shooting center on the roster, spacing the floor for the quick Walker to operate. Here’s one of the best plays of the night, with the Sixers having to respect Kemba’s quick three off the dribble, allowing for Theis to find the quick duck in for the reverse finish.

This chemistry also helped Theis have a career night, finishing two points away from his all-time high of 25.

Playing 27 minutes off the bench, the fourth-year big excelled in his new backup role, scoring 23 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Hitting 10-of-11 shots, he could do no wrong, with Kemba making it much easier for him in every aspect of the game.

When Walker was paired with Tristan Thompson, however, it didn’t look as pretty. He tried to shoot similar quick bounce passes to the newer Celtic, who had trouble finding the handle of the ball.

He will need more minutes and more practice time for their pick and roll game to flourish, as points were left on the board. Therefore, if Kemba continues to play on a minutes limit for the foreseeable future, look for coach Stevens to line up his playing time with Theis or even Grant Williams, who he has played with prior.

Although the Boston Celtics lost to the now first-place Sixers, the most important aspect of the game came out as a win — Kemba Walker looks like All-Star Kemba Walker. He made five of his nine triples, finished with six assists, and even looked relatively engaged on the defensive end.

For the Celtics to have a chance at an 18th banner this year, they’re going to need Walker to produce like his old, healthy self.