Analysis: Kemba Walker (sore knee) ruled out against Wolves

With eight days off at the All-Star Break, the Celtics looked ready be close to their entire roster at full strength to begin a Western Conference road trip starting in Minnesota on Friday night. However, Kemba Walker will leave the Celtics a man short against the Timberwolves after the team announced he would miss Friday's contest due to a sore left knee.

It's the same knee that has cost Walker six games already this season, including a three-game stretch back at the beginning of February. Walker came back from that absence with a minutes limit of 30 for three games before having it lifted during the double-overtime win over the Clippers on Thursday night, during which he played a season-high 45 minutes.

Walker was supposed to be on a minutes limit for the All-Star game on Sunday but surpassed it in the midst of a tight fourth quarter that lasted for 15 minutes due to the Elam Ending. He played a total of 32 minutes on the night including all 15 in the fourth quarter.

"I wasn't expecting it at all," Walker said his minutes total on Sunday. "I was actually supposed to be on a minute restriction, but the game got too close. I wanted to be out there. I wanted to compete. I knew down the stretch that it would get serious like that, and I wanted to be a part of it."

The Celtics practiced on Wednesday night for the first time after the break but Walker did not take part in the session as part of a scheduled light day according to Brad Stevens. The head coach said he was not concerned about Walker's high minutes total in the All-Star matchup despite the absence.

“No,” Stevens said. “I mean, I totally get it in the adrenaline of the moment anyways, like it looked like a blast. The NBA absolutely nailed the ending. So I thought it was pretty neat that all those guys got to be a part of it. But it’s something we talked about, we’re going to have to manage that. We’ve managed that for the last month and a half. We’re going to have to continue to manage it. This was always going to be a light day for him.”

Friday's game will be the eighth game Walker has missed this season. The Celtics are 5-2 in other games he has missed.

BSJ Analysis

On the one hand, this doesn't look like a huge deal when you consider the opponent. It's going to be a busy stretch for Boston with four games in six nights right away so giving the All-Star point guard a night off against the weakest opponent of the trip in Minnesota (Karl-Anthony Towns won't play) is probably good strategic load management if the team knew they wanted to rest Walker for one of these games during the busy stretch. If that's all this is, nothing to be alarmed about.

On the other side of the coin, it's hard to ignore the fact that Walker is going to need more rest after not playing real games for more than a week. While Walker's 32 minutes in the All-Star game was not a 'real' 32 minutes, the fourth quarter was actually competitive and hard-fought. Walker did not look great in those minutes (missing layups and open shots) and hasn't shot well since his return in February (under 38 percent shooting in his last four games).

Needless to say, missing the first game after the All-Star Break after going over a minutes limit in the All-Star game is not a good look for anyone involved. Walker clearly talked Nick Nurse into those minutes in the fourth quarter based on his quotes after the game but that doesn't absolve the head coach of ignoring the set limit.

This doesn't become a bigger story if the Celtics win on Friday night and Walker is ready to go against the Lakers on Sunday. However, Walker's knee injury doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon based on the way Brad Stevens is talking about it.

"The only person we held back on was Kemba, 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," Stevens said on Wednesday.

Whether or not the Celtics will be better off shutting down Walker for an extended stretch to ensure his knee is as healthy as possible for the playoffs will become clear in the coming weeks. For now, the run of bad health for Boston is set to last at least one more game and it may have been an absence that could have been avoided.