SUNDAY SCARIES
Celtics crushed by Knicks in Kemba’s season debut
That sound of escaping air is the life bleeding out of the Celtics’ now dead five-game winning streak, which suffered an inglorious, low-energy end Sunday.
This was not at all the way to welcome back Kemba Walker, with the Celtics getting bullied in the paint and, from time to time, by Knicks rookie Immanuel Quickley.
But as the Celtics point guard attempted to ramp up in his 2020-21 debut, his team sank miserably in Sunday’s 105-75 loss to the Knicks, easily the worst of the season for the team, which is now 8-4.
Walker, whose energy stood out in an otherwise uninspired Celtics effort, had reached his 20-minute limit by the time he headed to the trainer’s room in the third quarter after absorbing a shot to his right side following a collision with New York’s Nerlens Noel.
The team later said that the point guard was fine, but had reached his minutes limit, thus finishing with nine points on 3for-13 shooting, with four assists, three steals and five turnovers. Walker’s rust was understandable, though it didn’t explain how, after playing so well Friday night against Orlando in their first game in seven days, the rest of the lineup thudded so completely.
Brad Stevens saw the signs almost immediately, though the Celtics coach couldn’t have known that after the Knicks’ initial 7-2 run, which he attempted to truncate with a timeout only 2:10 into the game, the trend would carry on immeasurably.
When R. J. Barrett opened the third quarter by burying an
open Corner 3-pointer in front of the Celtics bench, Stevens called Another Angry timeout, this time only 54 seconds in.
“I knew that in this game, holding your ground, owning your space, eating physically, All those things was going to Be really important, ‘Cause that’s A Big, strong physical team,” Stevens said of the knicks’ size, emphasized to the hilt By their new coach, Tom Thibodeau, against the Celtics.
“Obviously well-coached And so you knew that was going to Be important. So that was the gist of the (first) timeout,” said the Celtics coach. “But, there were A lot of plays After that And New York deserved to win. They were terrific today. Terrific togetherness, physicality. Good basketball on their part.”
And not so much on the part of his own team — just recently the hottest group in the league, Before positive COVID-19 tests stripped the C’s of Jayson Tatum And Rob Williams. The former would have Been great help, indeed, in An offensive effort that went 7-for-46 (17.2%) from downtown And 29.8% overall, with Jaylen Brown leading the way with An oddly inconsequential 25point performance.
“You know, I think each team’s A little Bit different. I don’t Believe that’s who this team is,” Stevens said of the Celtics’ flat nature Sunday. “I do Believe that we have to play really well to win. Our margin’s not Big. And so I think for the most part, we’ve done that through the first 12 games.
“Today, we had A Clunker And you hope to have As few of those during An NBA season As possible. But inevitably, you will have A Couple. That doesn’t make it Any easier in the moment. That doesn’t make it Any easier As you’re going through it And watching it. We just looked like we were in mud today.”
It could get worse, quickly: With no word on whether Tatum and Rob Williams will return from health and safety protocols in time for Wednesday’s game in Philadelphia, the Celtics have to Count on this group ramping up significantly by the time the two-game road mini-series arrives.
“Today was a reminder that we have to play hard every night,” said Daniel Theis. “Against Philly we just have to play harder. If we lose we lose, but we Can’t just get out-played like that.
“We were off — didn’t have a game for a week. We had a good game on Friday, wanted to play the same way in today’s game and it didn’t work out. Moving on to Philly now, and we Can’t go to Philly and play the same way, losing by 30 or 40. Now we have zero wins for a streak — start a new streak.”
Do they miss Rob Williams this much? Never mind that Tristan Thompson and Theis were back on the floor following their time in quarantine. The Knicks’ large quartet of Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, rookie Obi Toppin and Nerlens Noel destroyed them under the basket. The Knicks guards began reaching the rim, and by the end New York had out-scored the Celtics in the paint, 48-32, including 17 second-chance points and 10 offensive rebounds. Thompson (three points, 1-for-5, six rebounds) and fellow starter Grant Williams (three points, 1-for-5, two rebounds) were fairly pallid in this one.
Jaylen’s rise continues: Brown’s accelerating career considered, Walker doesn’t believe there’s any adjustment needed on his part.
“None. None at all. He just has to keep on being super aggressive, and that’s it,” said Walker. “With me, I’m going to be out there and I’m going to do my part. I’m gonna play hard, I’m gonna shoot my open shots. He’s killing it. I don’t want him to think just because I’m back he can’t keep killing it, because he can. That’s what I’m here for. I’m here to continue to encourage him just to be great, which he’s been all year. I just want to try to add onto it. That’s it.”