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Kemba Walker helps the Knicks build depth and maturity
By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor
Bronx native Kemba Walker had long established himself as New York City basketball royalty before signing with his hometown team this past August. It is a union that brought Walker full circle, from playing at Madison Square Garden as a high school star for head coach Moe Hicks at the legendary Harlem Catholic school Rice, to carrying the UConn Huskies to the 2011 Big East championship in his junior year in one of the most iconic collegiate postseason performances ever.
In five games over five consecutive days, the 6-foot-1 point guard scored a major conference-record 130 points, culminating with a victory over Louisville that catapulted the Huskies to an unlikely and odds-defying NCAA title, defeating Butler University, who at the time was coached by Brad Stevens, for whom Walker would later play with the Boston Celtics.
His stellar pro career, including the first eight years with the Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets, a franchise with which he became one of its greatest and most beloved players, then on to the Celtics for the 2019 through the 2021 seasons, saw Walker selected to four All-Star teams (2017-2020), the All-NBA Third Team, and he was a two-time recipient of the prestigious NBA Sportsmanship Award.
However, his experience Tuesday night when the Knicks took on the Philadelphia 76ers at the Garden was as viscerally meaningful to the high character role model as any of the aforementioned accolades. With 4:06 remaining in the second quarter, Walker knocked down a 16-foot step-back jumper to push the Knicks’ lead to 49-38. By the time he drained a 25-foot three-pointer at 1:42, Walker had gone on a one-man, 10-point scoring spree for his team, pushing the Knicks’ advantage to 57-40 sending the crowd into a frenzy. Many exuberantly chanted his name.
“I was waiting for that moment. It was the kind of moment I dreamed of when I was a young kid, wanting to be in the NBA, watching the Knicks play, coming to a Knicks game and seeing how the crowd goes crazy,” he said after pacing the Knicks with 19 points, in a 112-99 win, improving their record to 3-1 before facing the Chicago Bulls tonight and the New Orleans Pelicans Saturday, both on the road. “That was a great moment for me.”
For the fans as well, who so deeply desire their New York-made son to excel. “It was fun. Hopefully we can have more moments like that. It was just such a great team win. Everybody contributed in many different ways, and that’s how New York basketball is. Everybody brings us together.”
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau also savored the occasion. Walker has added depth, maturity and leadership to his ballclub, as well as someone that can create off the dribble for himself and his teammates, critical skills they were lacking last season.
“I thought he played a great game,” said Thibodeau. “So tonight, I thought the way Kemba played helped set the tone.”
Although Tuesday wasn’t Walker’s first game at MSG since joining the Knicks, it was demonstrably his welcome home party.
(Bill Moore photo)
Bronx native Kemba Walker led the Knicks with 19 points on Tuesday night at Madison Square in a 112-99 win over the Philadelphia 76ers
With Kyrie Irving still out due to remaining unvaccinated, the Nets, favored to win the NBA title when the season began, were 2-2 before facing the Miami Heat in Brooklyn last night (Wednesday)
The Nets try to find continuity and chemistry without Kyrie
By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor
Even with seven-time All-Star guard Kyrie Irving maintaining his stance to be unvaccinated over one week into the start of the NBA regular season, Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant, an 11-time All-Star, says his team is still equipped to be a formidable presence as they play without one of basketball’s most dynamic forces in their lineup.
“While we’re playing in a game, I’m not going to sit there and say ‘Oh, when we get down or it’s a tight game, like, damn, we don’t have enough.’ We’re not going to be thinking about [Irving] during the game,” said Durant on Sunday after the Nets’ 111-95 loss to the Charlotte Hornets at the Barclays Center, their first game of this regular season at home.
“We definitely want Kyrie Irving out here on the floor, and he’s a huge part of what we do. But it’s not happening right now. So we’ve got to figure it out.
“But no one is going to lose confidence while we’re playing and hope Kyrie comes to save us during the game. No, we’ve got to play.”
There was a group of people against vaccine mandates demonstrating outside Barclays on Sunday loudly demanding “Let Kyrie play! Let Kyrie play!” and displaying signs that read “Stand with Kyrie.” Irving is prohibited from playing home games as New York City public health mandates require those seeking entry into large public venues to have been administered at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Two weeks ago, Nets general manager Sean Marks announced that he and team owner Joe Tsai decided they would not allow the 29-year-old superstar to engage in team activities, including practices, until he is able to fully participate.
In his absence, the Nets have not resembled the dominant team most pundits predicted. They did bounce back from the loss to the Hornets the next points. Heading into last night’s (Wednesday) game versus the Miami Heat, Durant had topped the Nets in scoring in each of their first four games while three-time NBA scoring champion James Harden was still trying to find his rhythm. Durant was averaging 31 points per game prior to playing the Heat in contrast to Harden’s 17.3.
Nets head coach Steve Nash attributed Harden’s relatively slow start to rules changes that no longer reward players with trips to the line for initiating contact against defenders on non-basketball moves, which Harden had mastered. He shot just one foul shot versus the Hornets and only three facing the Wizards.
“I feel like he’s unfairly become the poster boy of not calling these fouls,” said Nash on Sunday. “Some of them could definitely be fouls still, but they’re so alert and aware and he’s the poster child of these new decisions.”
(Bill Moore photo)
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