Will Celtics reach untapped potential with this duo?

Jayson Tatum became a different player after being named to the All-Star game on January 30th for the first time in his career. An Eastern Conference Player of the Month honor in February made the transformation from an All-Star to a franchise cornerstone happening ahead of schedule.

"It was like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders when I found out," Tatum said on the Good and Plenty Podcast about his All-Star honor. "Ever since then I’ve just played a lot more relaxed and a lot more free, and I think that had a lot to do with it."

The numbers back up that declaration for the 2017 No. 3 overall pick but there was a pretty important piece of the puzzle missing in February and March as well as Tatum’s breakout accelerated. Kemba Walker was a shell of himself on the court.

In fact, the All-Star point guard did not shoot over 40 percent from the final in his final 10 appearances of the season that coincided with Tatum’s leap. Those struggles led to the two players scoring just 20+ points in the same game over the final two months of the season (18 appearances). That reality has been a thorn in the side of Walker since the season ended.

“Since he’s been killing it the way he’s been,” Walker said.”I haven’t really been able to help out like I really wanted to, so yeah, I’m definitely looking forward to coming back and making an impact on my teammates and just being readier than I was before the season ended.”

The encouraging news for the Celtics as Walker works his way towards a return to full participation in on-court action next week is that even having Tatum on the floor paired with Walker has been a huge plus for the team despite the point guard’s struggles.

The Walker/Tatum duo had a +13.2 net rating together on the floor over February and March, with a sensational offensive rating (118 points per 100 possessions) for the team in spite of Walker’s subpar shooting. That success is a tribute to Walker (and other veterans like Gordon Hayward) clearing the way for the younger Celtics core to succeed when they have it going.

“I thought he and Kemba – and Smart too – did a really good job of really helping as Jaylen and Jayson were taking the next step in ascending,” Brad Stevens said on Tuesday. “So ... they’ve all done a good job of that.”

That sign of maturity and awareness from other parts of the roster signals a sharp change in chemistry from last year’s Celtics when it was rare for multiple players to have things going with Kyrie Irving running the offense. While the success is more consistent in the present, it still feels like this group is just scratching the surface offensively as Walker tries to return to his dynamic offensive game at the same time that Tatum and others have it going. Walker’s shot creation ability for himself and others in the pick-and-roll (95th percentile in the NBA) should force opposing defense into a lot of tough choices if the C’s core finds itself healthy on the court together.

“I think here, things are a lot more efficient,” Walker said. “Having those guys on the perimeter around me who are really efficient as well, they also create a lot of opportunities for me as far as spacing. Brad definitely puts me in great positions to be successful with the basketball. He knows pick-and-roll is one of my things.”

The opportunity for this group now to maximize those offensive strengths over two weeks of practice leading into postseason play will allow for a team that was already ranked 5th in team offense to potentially ascend to a different level.

“There's a lot we need to get better at,” Stevens admitted. “A lot of it's going to be gameplan specific as you get into certain games. We were great early on at closing games, and we weren't so good at the end of that post All-Star time. So we really put an emphasis on that, put an emphasis on making sure we're playing together and making sure we're getting into the paint off multiple attacks.”