The offense was not supposed to be a big problem for the 2019-20 Boston Celtics, at least not compared to the defensive end of the floor. Yet as the Celtics began their season with a 107-93 loss against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center, it was a paltry offensive performance that did this team in. The visitors shot a woeful 36.7 percent from the field in the opener, which would have been the worst shooting night the team experienced in all of its 82 regular-season games last year.
A lack of rhythm was apparent all night in the foul-ridden affair as 18 Boston assists matched the second-lowest total that last year’s dysfunctional group tallied as well. While there are still plenty of concerns between the bench production (15 points) and missed free throws (20-of-34 at the line) played a factor in an anemic offensive rating (90 points per 100 possessions) the total that is going to stick out in the box score is the production of the lone All-Star on the roster. On a night that Kyrie Irving debuted in Brooklyn with 50 points (in a home loss to the Wolves!) his replacement in Boston delivered an absolute dud. Kemba Walker finished with 12 points on 4-of-18 shooting from the field. 1-of-6 from beyond the arc and a mere four free throw attempts.
Putting up those kinds of numbers against a Sixers team that he scored 60 points against last November may seem concerning on paper, but there wasn’t much alarm in the locker room after the game.
“I’m not worried about that,” Brad Stevens said of Walker’s performance. “He’s a great offensive player, right? Some of those shots will go down and some of those things had to with them guarding him well. We’ll just continue to ask him to be himself since he’s awfully good.”
Walker agreed with his head coach, chalking up the slow start to a bad night and nothing more.
“It felt good, just a little bit disappointing,” Walker said of his debut. “Obviously, it was a tough night for many of us. Me, personally, I wish I could have played better and done a lot more for these guys, but you live and you learn.”
Walker didn’t think nerves or his new environment were factors.
“It’s disappointing as well since they are routine shots,” Walker said of his misses. "Like I said, it’s the first one. I just have to focus...I don’t think I was pressing. I was just missing.”
“We were kind of out of sync on the offensive end a lot of the night, as far as shooting the basketball, but I thought we generated some decent looks,” Stevens added. “I thought the guys got to the rim and tried to get to the rim and I thought that they generated some decent looks from three. They just didn’t go in, but that’s okay. They make you feel their presence with their length and that was probably a large part of it too. They’re a really good defensive team.”
While it’s understandable to remain optimistic after night one of the Walker era, we decided to look a little bit closer at his performance to see if the video confirmed the assessments of Walker and the offense as a whole.
A look at Walker’s first-half attempts:
MISS - Kemba open pullup 3 off pick (vs. Richardson)
MAKE - Wide-open midrange pullup off pick
MISS - Pull up 3 off pick (wide open)
MAKE - Wide-open spot-up 3 off Wanamaker pass in transition
MAKE - Fancy take on Thybulle (drew foul)
MISS - Blocked on drive by Thybulle
MISS - Wide-open pull-up 3 off pick
MISS - Open floater 10 footer in lane (contested from behind)
MISS - Lefty drive to end the half (fouled by Horford, no call)
Second half
MISS - Floater in the paint (good contest Richardson, maybe a foul)
MISS - Open pull up 3 (contest in back Richardson)
MISS - Layup attempt in transition on Simmons
MISS - Open midrange stepback on Korkmaz
MISS - Thybulle block 12 footer from behind
MISS - Open baseline jumper from 15 feet
MISS - Tough contested midrange stepback over Harris
MISS - Walker pull up 3 (pressure from back by Richardson)
MAKE- Driving layup on Horford
Open shots: 9 (2-of-9)
Shots in paint: 3-of-9
Midrange: 0-of-3
3-point: 1-of-6
Observations:
Josh Richardson’s length was a problem: While Walker had no problem getting separations off picks, he did feel some closing pressure on a number of attempts by Josh Richardson, who is one of the best wing defenders in the conference. He stuck well with Walker for most of the night and allowed the Sixers to drop their bigs in the pick-and-roll without giving up too much.
Josh Richardson's defensive highlights from today's game pic.twitter.com/ircqzUDlxF
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) October 24, 2019
