Stevens: Kemba Walker has his ‘burst back;’ may still sit vs. Suns

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens shared that All-Star point guard Kemba Walker has burst in his step again, but may still sit vs. the Phoenix Suns.

“Kemba looked great; Kemba did everything in practice.”

So began the response of head coach Brad Stevens to the obligatory line of questioning surrounding Boston Celtics starting point guard Kemba Walker’s knee.

A sort of detente seems to have emerged between beat reporters and Stevens, with everyone accepting the proverbial elephant in the room regarding the implications of where Boston could find themselves if in fact the UConn product’s knee is not okay.

Namely, up an also-proverbial creek without a paddle, at least as far as this season’s title hopes go. Until we see otherwise, it seems, the collective plan is to take what we are being told at face value regarding Walker’s level of concern and comfort.

And given the Bronx native’s past experiences with that balky knee, playing through it plenty of times in the past, it’s only fair to Walker to give him the chance to really spread his wings in a postseason without being hounded about his health.

“He’s got a burst — his burst is back,” related Stevens, alluding to how, towards the end of the season before the pandemic shut everything down in March, the All-Star’s lack of burst led to some embarrassing sequences — and at least one lost game.

“I think he’s healthy enough to play — it’s just a matter of days balancing themselves out right according to our training staff and Kemba with regard to getting ready for the seeding games,” added the coach, referring to the plan to bring Walker along slow, going every other day as long needed.

There may feel like a bit of added urgency after Friday’s scrimmage loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it’s the right move to be cautious given how open the title window is for the Celtics.

Should Walker take Sunday’s scrimmage against the Phoenix Suns off, it isn’t cause for alarm in the slightest based on everything we know.

But should that boost be absent when he does take to the floor, well, then might be a great time to start biting our collective nails.

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