Commentary

The Boston Celtics put together their worst performance of the season on Sunday, falling 105-75 to the New York Knicks as Kemba Walker made his season debut.

Here are five takeaways from a game the Celtics would probably prefer to forget.

One element of Walkers return that probably merits some attention is his chemistry with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Last season, Walker slid into a tertiary role during the postseason, but he never appeared to be moving well and his role made a lot of sense.

Now Walker looks healthy and told reporters after the game hes pain-free. When the rust falls away (he committed five of Bostons 17 turnovers), he will shoulder a major role in the Celtics offense again he started last years All-Star game and was an All-NBA selection two years ago. That offense will a big boost for a Celtics team that has missed Gordon Haywards production.

The Celtics have thrived with the ball in Jaylen Browns hands. Per Cleaning the Glass, Browns usage rate has been 28.2 percent so far this season a career-high by a significant amount. Trusted with more, Brown has done more: 25.8 points with shooting splits of 53.7/41.9/80.

Clearly, the Celtics need to keep the ball in Browns hands, and Walker doesnt foresee any issues.

None. None at all, Walker said. He just has to keep on being super aggressive, and thats it. With me, Im going to be out there and Im going to do my part. Im going to play hard, Im going to shoot my open shots. Hes killing it. I dont want him to think just because Im back he cant keep killing it, because he can. Thats what Im here for. Im here to continue to encourage him just to be great, which hes been all year. I just want to try to add onto it. Thats it.

Walker went down hard in the third quarter after taking a shot to the ribs, and he briefly went back to the locker room. After assuring Brad Stevens he was fine (and that he wasnt lying), Walker still didnt return to the floor due to his 20-minute limit.

After the game, Walker said he wasnt certain how long he would have restrictions, but he felt great.

Im going to be honest, I hope its over next game, he said. But Im sure its going to be for a few games. Im just getting back. We just want to see how my knee reacts after these games and stuff like that. Itll ramp up though. Ill get there. Its no rush. I already took my time coming back and Im going to keep taking my time until Im full go.

You can start with the counting stats for the Celtics and run nearly the entire way down the line. The Celtics shot 29.8 percent from the floor, 15.2 percent from three, and 62.1 percent from the free-throw line. Two players scored in double figures, one of whom Marcus Smart had 10 points on 4-for-15 shooting. They turned the ball over 17 times and gave up 10 offensive rebounds. The Knicks outscored the Celtics 48-32 in the paint and 38-25 from the bench.

Dig a little deeper, and the numbers are even worse. Per Sean Grande of 98.5, Bostons 29.8 percent performance was its in 17 years. The 37-point deficit Boston achieved in the fourth quarter, meanwhile, was its largest at TD Garden since the Celtics 53-point loss to Detroit in 2003.

They just played way harder than us, Daniel Theis said. They really whipped our ass from the first minute. Throwing the ball all over the place, we had so many turnovers, we couldnt hit a shot. So were going to look at film, but then its just moving on. Youre going to have nights like this, but hopefully its just one night or two in the whole season. We can live with it if we learn from it, and go next game, and just play way harder, play our way again.

The Celtics could use Jayson Tatum and Rob Williams against the Philadelphia 76ers, but Stevens doesnt know whether either will be available yet. Based on their quarantine schedules, Wednesday is the earliest both could potentially return.

Thatll all be dependent on how the next few days go, Stevens said. Everybodys got their own different testing protocols they have to go through and the timeline that they have to be on. So I dont know what to expect for Wednesday night. Well just play it by ear and go with the information we get every morning.

However, the Celtics might not even have to travel by Wednesday. The Sixers game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday was postponed, as Philly was forced to quarantine due to contact tracing. Per Kyle Neubeck of the Philly Voice, the Sixers have no positive tests to report, but they played the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday, who played Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves on Wednesday. Towns recently tested positive for COVID.

An afternoon tip with two players missing due to COVID against a lottery team in mid-January is a recipe for a trap game. Add in the new element of Walker, as well as New Yorks recent struggles, and Sundays result isnt surprising.

None of that excuses the loss, of course, and the Celtics didnt ask for excuses. The point is just that Sundays game while ugly and presumably embarrassing for the Celtics probably doesnt warrant panic.

We got beat by a team that was better than us today, Stevens said. Thats the beautiful part about basketball. Youre good if you play good in that 48 minutes. Thats it, thats all that matters in a given game.

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5 takeaways as the Knicks crush the Celtics, including Kemba Walkers chemistry with Jaylen Brown - Boston.com