Sunday afternoon marked the return of two top guards for the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns.
Boston’s Kemba Walker made its Orlando debut, but it wasn’t long on the floor, while the Suns brought Ricky Rubio back after joining the team in the bubble just six days ago. Walker, who dealt with a left knee injury, eliminated Boston’s first scrimmage, but played Sunday in the Celtics 117-103 victory over the Suns, although he was only on the ground for nine minutes.
Walker said he was feeling well and “was trying to move forward” with his teammates. Celtics coach Brad Stevens said the plan was to play Walker only 9-10 minutes and reiterated that Walker will have a limitation of minutes when seeding matches begin – something Walker said he would like not to do.
“I’d just like to say ‘You know what? I don’t care about any limitation of minutes or something.’ But obviously I can’t, “Walker said. “I have to be smart about things. At this point, that’s just what it is. I want to be there for my teammates when we’re in the playoffs. Hopefully, at that point, the restrictions and things of that nature are completely off.”
However, Stevens was encouraged by what he saw in his All-Star point guard.
“But I thought he was fine, I thought he broke out, I thought he played hard on the defensive,” said Stevens. “He wreaked havoc on a couple of different shows. Offensively, I thought he had come to the edge and / or got his shot.”
In those nine minutes of action, Walker scored six 2-of-6 points while shooting 1-of-4 from distance. He was 1 in 3 from the line and added a rebound and turnover. Walker started and played six minutes in the first quarter and three minutes in the second quarter. He didn’t play in the second half.
Walker returned from the All-Star break in February with swelling in his left knee. He said he was feeling good when he returned in June to do individual training with the Celtics, but he later felt uncomfortable. Walker was returning to full health and had fully trained on Saturday before returning on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Rubio told reporters earlier in the week that he had contracted coronavirus while in Phoenix and had only a handful of practices with his team. He did not play on the Suns’ first scrimmage on Thursday. Rubio played 19 minutes and finished with six points, four assists and two rebounds. He played 14 minutes in the first half and another five in the third quarter before calling him one day.
But while the Suns got an appetizer at Rubio, they may have lost one forward Dario Saric. In the second quarter Saric stepped back and rolled his left ankle to the feet of teammate Frank Kaminsky. Saric didn’t play in the second half. Saric scored 12 points in 5-of-8 shooting (2 of 4 from deep) with eight rebounds in the first half.
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