Sore knee keeps Walker out
C’s honor Bryant with purple wristbands
LOS ANGELES — Though Kemba Walker missed his second straight game with a swollen knee, this time against the Lakers, the Celtics guard’s treatment plan is still a developing situation.
But according to Brad Stevens, Walker has noticed improvement after having the knee drained followed by an anti-inflammatory injection last week.
“I think he’s getting better day by day. He did a lot in the weight room and workout room yesterday and we talked about it a little bit,” said the Celtics coach. “I don’t know how long it’s going to be but right now we’re really focusing on him feeling great and strengthening it.”
Walker, who chafed at the prospect of a minutes restriction prior to playing 46 during a double-overtime win over the Clippers, followed by 29 in last Sunday’s
NBA All-Star Game, seems to understand the need for caution now.
“I don’t get into it. It’s the medical staff and him,” said Stevens. “If they tell me he can play, he plays. Otherwise we trust them and he does too and we’re moving on from there.”
Walker and the training staff have also discussed missing a longer stretch of time to get his knee healthy for the playoffs. Thus far, though, Stevens hasn’t been part of those deliberations.
“I think it’s more about strengthening than anything else. I don’t know what that means,” Stevens said of a longer rest period. “That would be another question for him and our medical staff. Obviously, I think it’s not a long-term thing, but we need him to feel great and the swelling obviously was something that was new coming out of the break, so we need to make sure he feels great as we head to the stretch run here.”
Stevens was unsure of whether a miscalculation was made in Walker’s minutes load in his last two games.
“I don’t know. That’s a good question for our medical staff and Kemba,” said Stevens. “I think ultimately he was probably going to run into this anyway at some point. And at least we know now so we can take appropriate precautions to make sure that he feels as good as he can.
“But I don’t think there’s, like, the whole idea of minutes, and sometimes we go back and forth on this, is he’s averaged less minutes than he’s ever played before in his life. He’s had a couple of big minutes games, and as we move forward, we’re going to need him to have some big minute games, and that’s one of the reasons why those guys will all put their heads together and figure out how best to strengthen it.”
Celtics honor Kobe
From the sight of Bill Russell wearing a Kobe Bryant Lakers jersey and hat to the Celtics wearing purple wristbands, Celtics past and present did their part to honor Kobe Bryant, who will be memorialized in a Staples Center ceremony today.
Wait a minute — purple wristbands? Blame it on Jayson Tatum and Celtics travelling secretary/equipment manager John Conner.
“We had the Kobe wristbands on. First time playing in Staples since the tragedy. So we definitely felt that,” said Tatum. “Myself and one of the equipment guys, JJ. He brought it to me and I was definitely on board with that.”
Rivalry lives on
Sunday was the 291st game between the Celtics and Lakers, and the team’s respective owners, Wyc Grousbeck and Jeanie Buss, kicked off the day with a private tasting of their tequila — Cincoro Tequila. A panel discussion of former Celtics and Lakers followed, with Russell sitting in the crowd, but not speaking.
The significance of the game, as always, was felt by the two coaches.
“It’s been pretty good in the past. But certainly it’s great when both teams are good,” said Stevens. “We have a lot of respect for them — their players and coaches and everybody else. It’s a fun game to be a part of. They’re really good and you know you’ll have to play really well possession to possession.
“It’s special. Told our guys a couple of years ago, raise your hand if as a kid somebody would have told you you get to sit on the end of the bench in a Lakers-Celtics game, and everybody raised their hand. Everybody dreamed of that. Sometimes when you get there you get antsy to play a little more or have a bigger role or whatever the case may be. But you just have to pinch yourselves sometimes that you’re here.”
Said Lakers coach Frank Vogel: “It’s awesome. It’s something that, it’s always exciting, whether you’re in it or whether you’re not in it. All basketball fans love seeing Celtics-Lakers, at any point in the season. Regular season games, even when both teams are not playoff teams, it’s still fun to see those two colors going against each other. When I grew up there was only four teams. It was the 76ers, the Celtics, the Lakers and the Rockets. I didn’t know of anybody else when I was a kid. They were the teams in the playoffs. You knew it was the Sixers first and if they won they’d play the Lakers, and if they lose the Celtics would play the Lakers. You just, those battles will always be with me, and it’s always special when these two teams come together.”