NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics-76ers starts at 6:30pm Wednesday with Celtics Pregame Live, and then Mike & Scal have the call of the game at 7:30pm.
The Boston Celtics are one of the most different-looking teams in a changed NBA landscape. And one of the biggest changes they underwent came at point guard.
The Celtics lost Kyrie Irving to free agency two seasons after acquiring him in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Irving left the team amid rumors of discord in the locker room and joined the Brooklyn Nets.
To replace Irving, the Celtics signed Kemba Walker. Walker was considered to be the best player available after Irving on the free-agent point guard market. He made the All-Star team with the Charlotte Hornets multiple times and averaged 25.6 points per game in his final season with the team.
The transition away from Irving won't be seamless, but it will be an interesting one. As NBC Sports Boston's Brian Scalabrine outlined in the network's NBA preview show, Irving and Walker play differently and while Irving may be the better player, Walker may fit the Celtics better.
Kyrie's probably a better player. He's bigger. He can get to the basket. But in Boston, they're thinking now with Kyrie gone, the rest of the guys are able to shine. So Kemba Walker, in which he doesn't say anything bad about anybody, now, he comes in and allows Jaylen Brown to do his thing. He allows Jayson Tatum to do his thing. Kemba Walker -- high volume pick and roll player in Charlotte -- Brad is using him mostly off the ball. You see plays like that coming through dribble handoffs.
It's going to be really interesting the way that coach uses Kemba Walker. It's going to be very different than the way they used Kyrie Irving.
Boston Celtics
Scalabrine and Philadelphia 76ers insider Marc Jackson would also go on to discuss the Celtics' loss of Al Horford and how his departure hurts the C's but helps the 76ers. Watch the segment in full via the video above or click here to see the whole thing.
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