Kemba Walker Playing Heavy Minutes in All-Star Game Makes Even Less Sense After Latest Injury Update
By Dylan McCaffrey
The 2020 All-Star Game was the most competitive contest NBA fans have seen in quite some time. The new format allowed for a more intense game, especially in the fourth quarter.
But, the 29 minutes of game time that Kemba Walker played might've resulted in unfortunate consequences.
Stevens said kemba had his Knee drained and had an injection to reduce swelling after All-Star game.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) February 21, 2020
Kemba played the entire fourth quarter, which barely had any stoppages or breaks in action. Walker was supposed to be on a minutes restriction, but Team Giannis coach, Nick Nurse, bypassed that restriction to try to get the win. Not having an official game clock in the final frame didn't help matters.
Now, Walker won't play against the Timberwolves on Feb. 21.
Kemba Walker, who won’t play tomorrow in Minneapolis due to a sore knee, also missed practice yesterday in Boston.
— Tom Westerholm (@Tom_NBA) February 20, 2020
The reason, per Stevens: “Just because of all the time that he’s been on the court, so we’re just going to continue to be careful with that.”
The Boston Celtics' star point guard has been putting up respectable numbers of 21.8 points, 5.0 assists and 4.1 rebounds to lead Boston to a 38-16 record. He's played in 46 games, missing only six so far, but if the knee troubles linger, it could spell trouble for the three-seed Celtics. Might it be exactly what Nurse, the coach of the two-seed Toronto Raptors, needs?
Nick Nurse playing Kemba in the 4th knowing he's on a minutes restriction pic.twitter.com/Z2keiQ1GqP
— Nimrit (@yaboynimrit) February 17, 2020
The worst part is that Kemba Walker played all those minutes in a loss. Nurse had Trae Young, who is averaging 30 points and nine assists, at his disposal as well. Young ended up playing only 16 minutes in the game and he was an All-Star starter.
If Kemba's knee trouble costs the Celtics valuable seeding in the Eastern Conference, then Boston fans officially have something else to complain about.