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Andrew LopezESPN
Sunday afternoon marked the return of two bases for the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns.
Boston’s Kemba Walker made his debut in Orlando, but was not on the ground for long, while the Suns recovered Ricky Rubio after he joined the team in the bubble just six days ago. Walker, who has been dealing with a left knee injury, was not involved in Boston’s first game but played Sunday in the Celtics’ 117-103 victory over the Suns, although he was on the floor for just nine minutes.
Walker said he felt good and “was looking to take steps forward” with his teammates. Celtics coach Brad Stevens said the plan was to play Walker for only 9-10 minutes and reiterated that Walker will have a minute restriction when the qualifying games begin, something Walker said he wishes he didn’t have to do.
“I’d love to say, ‘You know what? I don’t care about minute restrictions or anything of that nature.’ But obviously I can’t,” Walker said. “I have to be smart about things. At this point, it’s exactly what it is. I want to be there for my teammates when we’re in the playoffs. Hopefully by then restrictions and things of that nature will be completely turned off. “
Still, Stevens was encouraged by what he saw on his All-Star point guard.
“But I thought it looked good, I thought it had blown up, I thought it played tough defensively,” said Stevens. “It created chaos in a couple of different plays. Offensively, I thought he got to the edge and / or got his chance.”
In those nine minutes of action, Walker scored six points on 2 of 6 shots while going 1 of 4 from a distance. He was 1 of 3 from the line and added a rebound and a rotation. Walker started and played six minutes in the first quarter and three minutes in the second quarter. He did not play in the second half.
Walker returned from the All-Star break in February with swelling in his left knee. He said he felt good when he returned in June to do individual practice with the Celtics, but then he felt discomfort. Walker had been working to regain his health and practiced fully on Saturday before returning on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Rubio told reporters earlier in the week that he contracted the coronavirus while in Phoenix and that he has only had a handful of practices with his team. He didn’t play in the Suns’ first game on Thursday. Rubio played 19 minutes and finished with six points, four assists and two rebounds. He played 14 minutes in the first half and five more in the third quarter before the end of the day.
But although the Suns did get a starter at Rubio, they may have lost one at forward Dario Saric. In the second quarter, Saric stepped back and rolled his left ankle over the foot of teammate Frank Kaminsky. Saric did not play in the second half. Saric had 12 points on 5 of 8 shots (2 of 4 from deep) with eight rebounds in the first half.
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