Kemba Walker scores 32, lead Celtics over Orlando, 132-96

For those still wondering about the value of rest for Kemba Walker, the latest evidence was presented Wednesday night in Orlando.

The 30-year-old veteran returned from a four-game absence due to a strained oblique and never stopped, scoring 32 points for the third time this season and sparking the Celtics’ 132-96 win over a stripped down Orlando team.

Jayson Tatum, who put this one away with a 13-point third quarter, including 10 points in a 16-4 run, took a seat with 27 points at the start of the fourth quarter. Evan Fournier added 18 in a return to his home of the last seven seasons.

The win moved the Celtics into a tie with Miami for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. The Heat play two games in the Garden next week in a crucial regular season series.

Walker, who has been the subject of a knee resting program all season, certainly showed his energy in this one, including 5-for-9 3-point shooting.

The Celtics pried open a 25-point (100-75) lead by the end of the third quarter with a mammoth 16-4 run that including 10 straight points from Tatum, who had 13 overall in the third.

Payton Pritchard and Walker opened the fourth with 3-pointers, the latter for a 106-77 lead, and the starters, save for Fournier, went to the bench.

The offense had little trouble, with the defense also holding up well against Orlando’s young lineup, Walker, with an 18-point first half, got the Celtics off to a quick start, with Fournier (10 of 12 points in the first quarter) and Tatum (14) also in a flow.

The result was an 18-point halftime Celtics lead that they quickly moved up to 23 points on eight straight points from Walker.

By the time he buried a pull-up 3-pointer for a 76-50 lead, the veteran guard had 29 points.

Orlando, though, with Mo Bomba and Bacon leading the way, cut the Celtics lead back to 16 (80-64) with an extended 14-4 run.

That’s all the Celtis, and Tatum specifically, needed. Starting with a Payton Pritchard three and continuing through 10 straight points from Tatum including back-to-back 3-pointers, the Celtics unloaded a 16-4 run for a 97-68 lead, and carried a 100-75 lead into the fourth.

Walker had 10 points and Fournier another 12 by the end of the first quarter, when the Celtics made just about every open shot, forced eight Orlando turnovers, and went into the second with a 39-27 lead.

Neither side scored for the first 2:42 of the second, but Orlando cut the Celtics lead to seven points with a 6-0 run. But the Celtics, with Tatum getting hot, closed out hard for a 63-45 halftime lead.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3xJBIiZ