It ‘felt good’ for Kemba Walker to be back on the floor vs. Suns

All-Star Boston Celtics starting point guard Kemba Walker looked to be himself again in Sunday’s scrimmage win over the Phoenix Suns.

“Yeah, I felt good; it felt good to be back on the floor,” said Boston Celtics All-Star point guard Kemba Walker after his first game back since the COVID-19 hiatus.

The UConn product has been moving forward with an abundance of caution after feeling minor discomfort in a knee that’s troubled him much of his career during individual workouts while the team was still in Boston,.

Sunday’s performance in the 117 – 103 exhibition win over the Phoenix Suns helped calm a lot of concern in the media over the state of that balky knee.

With much of the bounce back in the Bronx native’s step, questioning postgame instead focused on a more positive angle — does the former Husky wish he could be out there without the minutes restriction the team has him on as a precaution?

“Yeah, I would love to just do that,” replied Walker, “‘I don’t care about no minutes restriction,’ or anything of that nature. But obviously, I can’t.

“I’ve got to be smart about things. At this point, it just is what it is. They [the training staff] know I want to I want to be there for my teammates when we were in the playoffs and hopefully by then, the restrictions and things of that nature [will be] completely off.”

While not the first game in the Disney restart for the Celtics, given it was Walker’s first game in the fanless arena, the New Yorker was peppered with questions about his impression of the overall set up.

“It was a little different, and strange to me,” offered the Connecticut product.

“I think for the most part you’re feeling it when someone is shooting a free throw. It just gets super quiet, which is fine,” he added. “Once you’re out there playing, nothing really matters, to tell you the truth.”

Walker also showed some remorse for not being able to play in TD Garden during a playoff series and experience its legendarily raucous atmosphere.

“I definitely would have loved to experience the Garden during the playoffs. I just know it’s one of the greatest atmospheres during the playoffs but I’ve got to say you have to adjust and adapt to your situations, and it is what it is here.”

The four-time All-Star was especially praising of his two teammates on the wing, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

[Brown] and [Tatum], they work super hard,” began Walker.

“I know the work they put in over the hiatus, and it’s going to pay off — it’s going to pay off. [They are] two special talents. [Brown] hasn’t missed a beat. Then [Tatum] came in today super aggressive, and we’ve seen some shots from him. I’m happy for him and, hopefully, he can continue to see the ball going in.”

Even though the Celtics have been relatively healthy compared to past seasons, the scrimmage was one of the few times this season all five of the Celtics best players — that trio, Gordon Hayward and Marcus Smart — were able to share the court with each other.

Perhaps more promisingly, the team looked solid even when they sat with the bench continuing to contribute.

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There were still lingering defensive lapses (especially in transition) and players looked off in terms of aim, but on the whole the performance was miles away better than the team’s first game back, a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Friday.

That Walker is back and looking healthy in limited minutes is hugely encouraging for the team’s tenuous but extant title designs.

Hopefully the cautious approach only further cements the team’s ceiling in the rafter-oriented range they’re aiming for.

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