Walker eyes Celtics turnaround
Guard likes comparison to his UConn title team
INDIANAPOLIS — It was nine years and a few days ago that Kemba Walker scored 34 points … but missed his last four shots as UConn got outscored 10-2 down the stretch and lost to Notre Dame, 70-67.
The result dropped the Huskies to 9-9 in the old Big East, and their prospects in the upcoming conference and NCAA tournaments weren’t great.
But that team didn’t lose again, sweeping five games in the Big East bash and six more in the NCAAs, including a 53-41 decision over Brad Stevens and Butler in the title game.
Now as the Celtics head into an Indiana-Milwaukee road trip with losses in four of their last five games — those four all at home — they seem similarly queasy. Recently closing in on Toronto for the second seed in the East, they are now three games behind the Raptors and drifting toward fourth-seed Miami.
One wonders if Walker, struggling himself as he deals with knee soreness and the rest maintenance required, thinks back to that college turn for inspiration.
“Not really, but that’s definitely a great example,” he said in the wake of Sunday’s one-point loss to Oklahoma City, an outcome achieved after his turnover in the backcourt for the go-ahead hoop and Jayson Tatum’s failure to hit a turnaround over 6-foot Chris Paul.
“I mean, the switch can flip at any point in time. When I was with that team, we stayed together. Regardless that it was a tough loss, you know, it was Senior Night, but we stayed together. So it can happen anytime.”
And despite the potholes of the last several days, if there’s one thing in which Walker remains confident, it’s that these Celtics won’t splinter.
“Yeah, man, we’re definitely going to stay together,” he said. “We’re not going anywhere. We’re going to stay together, for sure. That’s what we do.”
In the final analysis, the Celts may simply not be good enough to get where they wish to go, but unlike recent editions of the franchise, none of the mortal wounds should be self-inflicted.
And they honestly don’t believe they are far off track, as even the numbers suggest with the close and overtime losses.
Asked what fixes their current issues, Gordon Hayward said, “I mean, I think winning fixes everything, and just sharpening up a little bit here or there — certainly sharpening up defensively at the end of quarters. Making sure that we’re locked in to our game plan and stuff would definitely help us.
“But on all of these close games, if we win them, we’re not sitting here talking about what we’re talking about. That’s kind of just the way it works. We’ve just got to try to win some games here.
“I think you go through these ups and downs throughout the course of the season. But I think, for whatever reason, we’re in a lull right now, so we’ve got to find a way to get back out of it.”
And quickly. That second seed is more than just a neat intermediate goal for the Celts. Having homecourt advantage against Toronto in a potential second round series could be critical, as would be avoiding Milwaukee as long as possible.
“We haven’t talked about it yet,” said Hayward of the seed-seeking. “I think we’re trying to focus on ourselves and just trying to get better each day as a team and individually. Usually that stuff takes care of it.
“I think human nature is you see where you’re at, but I have no clue. I know we’re not in first or second, but I don’t know how many games we’re out of second or how many games we’re above fourth. But I know it’s tight, so we’ve got to try to win every game we can.”
As for the importance of the homecourt in any series, Hayward said, “Yeah, it’s always a big deal. But looking at it now doesn’t matter. We’ve just got to play our best.”
The difficult part for the Celts is that, as relates to seeding, the recent events could mean even their best won’t be enough to keep them off the road at the start should they get past the first round.