Boston Celtics: Analyzing the Kemba Walker signing halfway through the year
Early Success Due To Kemba Walker’s Play
Fast forward to October, and the Celtics were ready to usher in a new era. They were to go up against their old friend Al Horford and his new teammates in Philadelphia. As expected for a team with so much perimeter talent, the Celtics had lengthy lapses on offense, and the result was an easy win for the 76ers. Kemba was an ugly 4-of-18 in the game, and overreactions across the map questioned if he was the right man to lead this Boston Celtics team. That question would soon be answered for good.
Following that tough loss, Boston had to face the defending champion Toronto Raptors at TD Garden. That game seemed like it would end in the same fashion as the previous outing, with the Raptors going up big in the second half. However, Walker broke his cold shooting slump and fired up the crowd, orchestrating the Celtics comeback and guiding them to their first win of the season.
From that point on, Boston managed to win their next 10 games before abruptly ending at the hands of the Sacramento Kings.
Kemba Walker was on a tear throughout those 10 games, and the stats pretty much speak for themselves:
| Rk | G | Date | Age | Tm | Opp | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PTS | GmSc | +/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 2019-10-25 | 29-170 | BOS | TOR | W (+6) | 8 | 22 | .364 | 2 | 8 | .250 | 1.000 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 14.4 | +7 | |
| 3 | 3 | 2019-10-26 | 29-171 | BOS | @ | NYK | W (+23) | 11 | 17 | .647 | 7 | 12 | .583 | .750 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 31.1 | +13 |
| 4 | 4 | 2019-10-30 | 29-175 | BOS | MIL | W (+11) | 7 | 19 | .368 | 4 | 11 | .364 | .933 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 32 | 23.7 | +8 | |
| 5 | 5 | 2019-11-01 | 29-177 | BOS | NYK | W (+2) | 8 | 19 | .421 | 3 | 9 | .333 | 1.000 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 26.2 | +4 | |
| 6 | 6 | 2019-11-05 | 29-181 | BOS | @ | CLE | W (+6) | 8 | 19 | .421 | 6 | 8 | .750 | .750 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 25 | 17.0 | 0 |
| 7 | 7 | 2019-11-07 | 29-183 | BOS | @ | CHO | W (+21) | 4 | 12 | .333 | 3 | 9 | .333 | 1.000 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 11.0 | +20 |
| 8 | 8 | 2019-11-09 | 29-185 | BOS | @ | SAS | W (+20) | 9 | 20 | .450 | 4 | 10 | .400 | 1.000 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 24.4 | +21 |
| 9 | 9 | 2019-11-11 | 29-187 | BOS | DAL | W (+10) | 9 | 17 | .529 | 8 | 14 | .571 | .750 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 29 | 22.6 | +18 | |
| 10 | 10 | 2019-11-13 | 29-189 | BOS | WAS | W (+7) | 8 | 17 | .471 | 6 | 12 | .500 | 1.000 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 21.0 | -4 | |
| 11 | 11 | 2019-11-15 | 29-191 | BOS | @ | GSW | W (+5) | 6 | 19 | .316 | 3 | 12 | .250 | 1.000 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 14.0 | +2 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/10/2020.
During that stretch, he averaged a team-leading 25.8 points per game, along with 5.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists per night. While his field goal percentages weren’t the best, he had support from his teammates to keep shooting the ball.
Even after the loss to the Kings, Walker was upbeat about the team’s direction. He credited his positive outlook to the fact that he hadn’t achieved a winning streak of that magnitude in his career. Although the Boston Celtics only had two losses at that point, Kemba’s reaction to both made it clear that his attitude and character were two of his greatest assets.