The Celtics struggled to find any answer for Hornets guard Kemba Walker during Monday's loss in Charlotte and not even the team's best defenders could do much to slow him down.
Walker scored 22 of his game-high 43 points during the 31 possessions he was defended by Marcus Smart, connecting on 7-of-12 shots against him. Walker added six points during the four possessions that Al Horford was deemed the primary defender, making both shots against Horford and drawing a shooting foul.
The full breakdown of Celtics defenders vs. Walker via the NBA’s tracking data:
Irving defended Walker on 27 possessions, the second-highest number on the team behind Smart, and limited him to a modest seven points on 3-of-4 shooting. Still, the Hornets generated 32 total points of offense during those possessions, suggesting the attention on Walker helped generate other opportunities for Charlotte.
Gordon Hayward had maybe the most success against Walker (0-for-2 shooting, 3 possessions) while Jaylen Brown, limited to 19 minutes, was deemed the primary defender on just one possession.
Walker scored 21 of his points in the fourth quarter, routinely creating havoc off high pick-and-rolls. Every time a defender got pinned, even briefly, Walker made the Celtics pay with a quick 3-pointer, particularly when bigs were slow to help.
Boston Celtics
While the Celtics showered Walker with praise after Monday’s game, Irving did wonder if Boston should have considered trying to trap Walker and get the ball out of his hands instead of leaning on 1-on-1 coverage.
“He did exactly what we talked about [at Monday's] morning [shootaround]. He came off every pick-and-roll, put our bigs in some tough positions to guard him on those high pick-and-rolls,” Irving told reporters in Charlotte. "He did exactly what we thought he was going to do.
“Usually you just go to a double team or something simple to get that ball out of his hands but we felt pretty comfortable with Marcus and Al guarding him 1-on-1. You just live with the results of that.”
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