Kemba Walker took the Boston Celtics loss Sunday against the Oklahoma City Thunder to heart, but in truth his recent spate of mediocre games is far from the only problem Boston has right now.
It’s true the UConn product hasn’t managed to find his footing since returning from a sore knee that kept him out of action for much of February. It’s also true that a late turnover by the Bronx native ultimately cost the Celtics their game against the Thunder.
Yet, there are other players on that team, and the blame rests on them as well.
Effort levels have been substandard on both ends of the floor, as noted by unofficial team captain Marcus Smart after Boston’s loss to the Utah Jazz on Mar. 6.
Injuries have been plaguing the team, with a player seeming to go down for each one that comes back.
With one of the least productive benches in the NBA in terms of offense, when one of those players is Walker, forward Gordon Hayward, or shooting guard Jaylen Brown…
…the results speak for themselves.Jay King✔@ByJayKing
Again, the Celtics blew a double-digit lead at home. Again, they squandered chances down the stretch. Kemba Walker took this one hard after his late turnover.
“This is a low for us,” said Gordon Hayward.
On a team trying to find it again: https://theathletic.com/1663572/2020/03/08/kemba-walker-celtics-playoff-hopes-slipping/?source=shared-article …Celtics hopes for second seed slipping away after another…”This is not the first time I’ve had a stretch like this in my career when I haven’t been playing so well, but I’ll be better,” Walker said.theathletic.com45Twitter Ads info and privacySee Jay King’s other Tweets
All that said, good luck trying to convince Walker not to take it personally. “It’s frustrating,” said the former Husky after the Thunder loss (via The Athletic’s Jay King).
The view from left field 