Return of C’s Tatum ‘to be determined’
Won’t travel to Philly for tonight’s tilt
Jayson Tatum’s status for the Celtics’ game in Philadelphia on Friday remains in question.
“To be determined,” Brad Stevens said after Tuesday’s practice.
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Though Robert Williams practiced after 10 days in isolation due to a positive COVID-19 test, Tatum and Carsen Edwards have yet to be cleared.
“Carsen and Jayson will not be traveling,” Stevens said of Wednesday night’s game — the first in a two-game mini road series in Philly — before clarifying that Tatum’s status was unknown for Friday’s game.
Though Philadelphia’s game against the Thunder was postponed on Sunday due to COVID concerns, the Celtics have received the go-ahead to travel to Philly for this road trip.
“We never felt like this game was in flux,” said Stevens. “It sounded like that was a testing issue and so we always felt like we were going to play this game. Right from the getgo, that was what was communicated to us from — at least communicated to me — via our front office. I haven’t thought twice about that.”
Walker full practice participant
Kemba Walker ran through a full practice and, above all, his left knee responded well. The Celtics point guard made his season debut during Sunday’s loss to the Knicks after missing the first 11 games of the season due to a knee strengthening program.
And it’s now on the team to make Walker’s return as smooth as possible, according to Stevens.
“We’ve all got to make the game easier for Kemba,” said the Celtics coach. “Kemba is not the kind of a guy that comes through the path (that) we gotta all come to him.
“I think we got some really good players, some guys that are going to get plenty of opportunities but, as far as Kemba using possessions and those type of things, we need him to. Like if we’re going to be a good team and we want to compete with the teams that are the best in the league. Like we don’t have a shot if Kemba Walker — if we don’t let him be him. And I think that’s really important. That’s the great thing about Kemba, when he comes back, he’s going to be everything that he’s always been and he’s a great encourager of everyone else to continue doing what they’re doing.”
Brown makes hay from mid-range
Much of Jaylen Brown’s success this season comes from his repeated ability to cash in on mid-range jumpers. There’s a reason for that, according to Stevens.
“Every defense is trying to take away layups and threes,” he said. “When your best players get an opportunity to pull up into a rhythm pull-up, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. And I think that obviously he’s able to lift up, jump up over guys, and not be affected by some of those challenges. Listen, everybody wants layups and threes, it’s not always feasible in each moment of every game. And so, again, when you’ve got guys that are really good at coming to a stop on a dime, raising up and shooting those, then I think as long as you don’t decide to shoot them every time down the floor, those are things that we feel good about.”