Mike Honcho
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Kemba Continues Hot Stretch with Season-High 36 Points vs. Heat
While the Boston Celtics are still searching for consistent rhythm as they prepare for the postseason, Kemba Walker has certainly found his. The veteran point guard is in the midst of his hottest stretch of basketball since joining the Celtics last season, and Tuesday night’s effort against...
www.nba.com
Despite his team suffering a 129-121 loss, Walker poured in a season-high 36 points to go along with seven rebounds, four assists, and a steal, while committing just one turnover in 38-plus minutes of action. This was just one of a handful of high-volume scoring efforts for Walker of late, as it marked his fourth 30-point performance in his last six games after he had logged just one such effort in his first 37 games of the season.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens has said all along that in order for the Celtics to have any hope of achieving postseason success this year, they’ll need Walker to be at his best. And right now, he’s doing his part as the team’s most consistent source of energy over the past several games.
“Kemba is obviously an enormous key for us,” Stevens said. “I thought he did a lot of good things tonight. His energy is something that we need at a high level for us to be the best that we can be. We need it from everybody, but certainly, he’s had a good couple of weeks here from an individual standpoint.”
The Celtics as a whole, however, are struggling to the finish line. They're 3-7 in their last 10 and sitting in 7th place in the Eastern Conference, which means they're almost certainly destined for a play-in game. Add in that Jaylen Brown needs season-ending surgery to repair a torn ligament (as of yesterday), and their playoff hopes look dim at the moment.