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Tim BontempsESPN
BOSTON – Celtics – already piled up in a three-game losing streak and after losing eight of the last 11 games – woke up 18-4 five minutes after Friday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers. It was the kind of show that, if fans had been left in TD Garden, would have been greeted with a consistent round of boos.
But rather than resign, and his team, to another ugly loss in a stretch full of them, Kemba Walker put the Celtics on their backs. And on an evening when the team’s young All-Stars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, were ineffective, Walker was the one to score 32 points and make six assists to lead Boston to a desperate victory. of 118-112 on the Pacers.
“I don’t think we’re going to win the game without his will,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “I think no matter how everyone plays, when he was 18-4, he was the coolest voice. He wanted us to go back to that. And now, we’re back on our feet, [and] we have a bit of confidence, which was shot this week.
“But that’s what very good players do. That’s what veterans do. That’s what the guys who have been there, they’ve done that and they’ve done it for a long time. So I thought he led us tonight.”
It was as difficult for an individual season for Walker as it was for the Celtics as a team. Starting with a 12-week program to strengthen his left knee, which caused him to miss the first few weeks of this season, Walker entered Friday night shooting 37.5% of the field – the second worst percentage of his career.
Tonight, however, Walker showed just as much of the All-Star he was last season before he started knee problems. After Boston fell into that 18-4 hole, Walker scored or assisted 13 of the team’s 15 points in a 15-2 maneuver that helped the Celtics take the lead after the first quarter.
“I try to bring this aspect to the game every night, my leadership,” Walker said. “I try to use my voice as much as possible to keep my teammates up when things are not going well.
“I know the guys look at me in such situations and you know, just try to stay optimistic, try to stay positive and just bring that energy to the team.”
With Tatum (shooting 4-for-18, nine points) and Brown (5-for-12, 15 points) unable to start, it was a combination of the two things that got the most control in the Boston fights. – Walker and the secondary cast – which allowed the Celtics to get this victory.
Jeff Teague, the veteran goalkeeper who fought hard all season and received several DNPs lately, had the best game since scoring 19 points in the season opener, scoring 14 in 19 minutes. Rookie Payton Pritchard, who has had his own fights lately, had nine points in 19 minutes, while the young great Robert Williams III had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists in 22 minutes.
“It was a different experience than I ever did, but it’s always a learning experience,” Teague said. “Just take the good and the bad and keep running. Tonight was a big win for our team; we played well. I’m glad to see a lot of guys playing well. I finally helped JT, Kemba and Jaylen tonight. “So it was good for us.”
More than anything, it was important for the Celtics to get a win after a few bad days that saw them lose in overtime in New Orleans on Sunday after a 24-point lead, falling to a last one with 3 points from Luka Doncic, Tuesday, in Dallas, and then annihilated in Atlanta without Walker (knee) on Wednesday.
After Friday’s victory, everyone said how important it was to get that bad collective taste out of their mouths, and Walker specifically said it’s up to the team leaders to make sure the Celtics stay together through their struggles.
“We’ll find out,” Walker said. “This is me. This is Jaylen. This is Jayson. This is Marcus. And then Tristan. [Thompson] and Jeff will add to that. This is for the veteran boys as well as Brad. We have to keep him together. We can’t let anyone go in any other direction. Even though things may not be going as well as we would like at the moment, but things could change very quickly, so the only way you can get out of the fight is to do it together. “