About Last Night: Kemba Walker's Reminder



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"It's my (thing)!"

Such was the exaltation of Kemba Walker in front of a euphoric crowd after finishing the Celtics on Monday, with his ridiculous 3-pointer giving the Hornets an insurmountable lead at the last minute of the 117-112 win.

The coup de grâce gave Walker 21 points in the fourth quarter and a total of 43 points, a historic reminder after his 60 points, the highest in his career, against the Sixers on Saturday. With the explosion, Walker joined five others – all Hall of Fame members – to score at least 40 points immediately after a goal of more than 60 years.

This is rare for a player who, not so long ago, was considered a loophole, after a selection in front of Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler and Klay Thompson, No. 9 in the 2011 draft.

Walker is now at the top of the league scorers' list, just ahead of Warrior star Stephen Curry, with 29.6 points per game, making it the most daring part of what he claims to be by far the best of his career. A third All-Star nod seems to be a deadlock, as is a massive contract with a free agent this summer.

If the Hornets can improve their mediocre record 8-8, the former UConn star could even end up as a marginal candidate for Kia MVP. Hold the vote now, and Celtics coach Brad Stevens might give it to him.

"You can not go under the screens, you can not give him free throws, you can not waste bonus fouls," said Stevens, whose team was powerless to slow Walker despite his involvement with the best defense of the league.

"You can not lose it in the choices, you name it, everything must be good, it uses so much of their goods and it does so at an equally efficient rate."

Kemba Walker will score 43 points against the Celtics.

Discontent in D.C.

The season has been difficult for wizards. The playoff team from four of the past five seasons, with three of those appearances that have resulted in rare playoff victories, she is currently lagging behind in the Eastern Conference standings at 5 -11.

The situation worsened on Monday, as allusions to dysfunction and frustration throughout their bad start to the match began to rage with many reports that the cornerstone of the franchise, John Wall , would have cursed head coach Scott Brooks for his intervention in his conflict with teammate Jeff Green.

ESPN reported that Wall was fined despite the apology to Brooks shortly after the incident. The Washington Post also announced that Bradley Beal and Austin Rivers had also participated in the same training session, while Beal was pulling in the opposite direction to longtime general manager, Ernie Grunfeld.

Later, Beal, still motivated, discussed the current culture of the organization. According to people who heard Beal's tirade, Beal shouted, "I'm fed up with that (expletive)." Beal also waved to Grunfeld, who was sitting on the bottom line, and said he was busy with it. for seven years and that, "it starts at the top."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Wizards followed Thursday's practice with double-digit home defeats against the Nets and Blazers, with Brooks describing the latter as "embarrassing".

"We had to play with more enthusiasm, more effort, more energy," he said.

More or almost everything, or another ESPN report that the Wizards are open to trade, almost everyone could come to fruition.

The revenge of Embiid

Sincerely from their trash talk center, the Sixers shot a friendly shot (we think) against Suns rookie Deandre Ayton after their 119-114 victory.

Details: Ayton took a picture of himself diving into Joel Embiid, the All-Star Sixers mentioned above, during the photo shoot, during the Panini rookie photo shoot. Ayton immediately scored a goal on Embiid in the opening minutes, giving Suns' social media team an opportunity she could not resist.

But as the old saying goes, discretion is the best part of value. Embiid ended up dominating the match by nearly doubling Ayton in points (33-17) and rebounds (17-9), which the Sixers were very happy to celebrate.

Shaqtin's Candidate

Even though Embiid was against the Suns, he had at least a moment to forget. Not that his teammate Ben Simmons was going to let him.

Where is the D?

If there has been a constant during Gregg Popovich's tenure in San Antonio, the defense is stifling.

That was certainly not the case in New Orleans, as the Pelicans brought them back for an incredible 140 points – a maximum they never allowed in 1,754 games under Popovich.

The Pelicans shot 57.8% with 34 assists and four different players scored 21 goals or more. One of these players, Julius Randle, became the fourth player to register a triple-double in 25 minutes or less.

At least Pop had a sense of humor: "We kept them at 140. What do you mean, they are hard to keep?"

Rookie Exploit

Hawks rookie Trae Young struggled, entering Monday's action with only 24.2% gains over 3 seconds and an average of 3.9 turnovers per game.

This has not prevented it from making monster individual performances up to now. Despite another tough night of shooting, Young joined a rare – and elite – company with 25 points and 17 assists against the Clippers.

Wait

This quick excerpt from Kyrie Irving working on her handle might not seem particularly impressive at first.

Then the camera goes back …

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