BOSTON -- The last time Kemba Walker was on the TD Garden floor prior to Sunday night’s game against Charlotte, he walked away having missed every shot he took from the field.
It was as atypical a night as you can imagine for one of the NBA’s better scorers.
But when it comes to his play, Walker has moved past the need to put up big scoring numbers.
It’s all about winning games, something the Celtics (20-7) have shown the ability to do whether he scores in droves or not.
Sunday night was indeed business as usual for Walker who had 23 points in Boston’s 119-93 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
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And as far as bouncing back from his 0-for-the-game performance in Boston’s win over Detroit on Friday (it was only the second time since he came into the NBA that he finished a game without making a single basket), the outcome was all Walker cared about.
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“I could score zero for the rest of the games this year, as long as we win,” said Walker, who had two points on a pair of made free throws in Boston’s win over Detroit on Friday. “That’s all I care about. Everybody knows I can score.”
And Sunday was yet another reminder of just how potent Walker and the Celtics as a team can be when it comes to generating points.
It didn’t take Walker long to get back on track, scoring his first basket against Charlotte just 35 seconds into the game.
He would follow that up with a 3-pointer just 28 seconds later.
Walker’s points continued to pile up, as did the scoring of his teammates, as the Celtics pulled away for their third straight win.
It came as no surprise that Walker would be more assertive scoring the ball at the outset of Sunday’s game against his former team.
But what we’re seeing with Walker is the fact that while he is a high-scoring guard, he has a way about him where most of the shots come within the flow of the offense and rarely feel forced.
In Boston’s 114-93 win over the Pistons on Friday, Walker could have easily began forcing shots just to get into some kind of shooting rhythm.
But he recognized early on what Detroit was trying to do against him defensively.
So rather than force a few shots that would not have been great looks, he played with patience, consistently probing the Pistons defense which led to him tallying a season-high 11 assists.
“Play the game the right way; that’s how I play basketball,” Walker said. “Just try to make the right decisions.”
On Friday that meant being a facilitator.
On Sunday, it meant setting the tone offensively before passing the torch on to Jayson Tatum who finished with a career-high 39 points.
Regardless of what role he’s asked to play, Walker’s focus remains on one thing and one thing only … winning games.
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