Boston Celtics: How is the team accounting for Kemba Walker’s absence?

How will the Boston Celtics handle the potential absence of Kemba Walker?

The Boston Celtics began their slate of scrimmage games in the NBA’s restart with a bit of an underwhelming performance. A 98-84 blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t exactly show many positive signs for a Celtics team many are projecting to be a serious Eastern Conference contender.

The Celtics showed a lot of rust, being absolutely horrible from beyond the arc shooting 5-for-24 on 3-point attempts and struggled with interior defense, letting Steven Adams wreck the team from within the paint.

In context, however, this scrimmage was a slow ramp up for the Celtics. The team’s biggest contributors, Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Gordon Hayward all played under 20 minutes of game time and not a single minute in the second half. Topping it all off, franchise point guard Kemba Walker did not play as he continues rehabbing his knee.

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Where the Boston Celtics are heading into the restart 

Even though it was a rough performance and one that Brad Stevens did not want to put much effort into, there was one important thing to learn from the Celtics in the game. What we learned was more about how the team is going to approach potential situations without Kemba Walker.

Walker, who is battling a bit of a knee issue, is expected to play when the team enters the official start of the resumption of the season, but it’s still no guarantee yet. If this scrimmage is any indication, Brad Stevens hasn’t planned to change much from what happened in Walker’s absence in the regular season.

The Celtics came out in the first half relying upon Marcus Smart and Gordon Hayward specifically as the facilitators of the offense. In the opening offensive possessions, it was often Smart bringing the ball up the court. As the game’s first half went on, Smart would bring the ball up to handoff to forward Gordon Hayward who would then work in pick-and-roll.

At times, Boston used Jayson Tatum as a facilitator in the way that they were playing through Tatum during his dominant stretch in late February. Though it’s safe to say for the most part Stevens kept the load light for Tatum as his usage will be high for the rest of the season.

Adding intrigue to the team’s rotations in this first game, the Celtics let loose a second-half lineup of exclusively younger players. The team used a super-small backcourt of Tremont Waters and Carson Edwards while having Javonte Green, Grant Williams, and Robert Williams III in the frontcourt.

Many thought Stevens would play with standard rotations and maybe we’d see Tremont Waters or Carsen Edwards leap over Brad Wanamaker and show potential for a Walker-less rotation but that wasn’t the case yet.

Suggestions were that the second half of the team’s scrimmage was for Stevens to see which young guys would step and be able to earn a rotation spot for when actual games being as the team has only one to two real rotation spots left. Others thought maybe Stevens wants to go light in the scrimmage games and not show his hand of what’s might be to come if Walker isn’t playing full time.

Looking forward for the Boston Celtics 

The Celtics were 6th in the league in pick-and-roll usage this season and were one of the best teams in the league in scoring on those plays. Stevens showed that with or without Kemba Walker, the Celtics are going to stay the course in that philosophy. The unique aspect about this Celtics roster is just how many guys on the team are capable of handling the ball and they will continue to use that to their advantage.

Another key to watch for the rest of the way is just how much we might see Gordon Hayward become the true facilitator on this team. Yes, Hayward’s time with the Celtics has been chaotic and polarizing but when the ball has been in his hands and he’s making plays for his teammates, he’s shown to be at his best.

At the same time, people following the Celtics should keep their eyes set on which young player will be the one to step up. Will it be Grant Williams who flashed a more 3-point shooting to go along with his defensive versatility? Maybe it’s someone like Robert Williams who has flashed potential to be a solid rim-runner, or maybe a young guard will take the reins to ease Walker’s burden?

The Celtics’ season is now back underway and there’s still a lot to learn about what this team will actually be during the playoffs. They could be the East’s biggest contender or they could just be another pretender.