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Tim BontempsESPN
BOSTON -- As Boston Celtics star Kemba Walker lay on the ground Friday night in Denver, he felt the same emotion his teammates and everyone else watching did: fear.
"It was a scary moment for myself," Walker said after Boston's shootaround Wednesday morning. "When I was in the moment, it was pretty tough to be in, obviously. I know it was scary for everybody.
"It was tough, but thank God I'm OK."
OK and then some.
Walker started Wednesday night's game against the Nets at TD Garden and scored a team-high 39 points -- his most since joining Boston -- as the Celtics beat Brooklyn, 121-110.
Walker was 13 of 24 from the field and 6 of 10 from 3-point range while adding six rebounds and four assists against the Kyrie Irving-less Nets.
"I was just picking my spots," he told ESPN after the game. "Whenever I had an opportunity to shoot the basketball, I wanted to make it. That's really all it was. Whenever I drew two defenders I tried to get rid of the basketball and make the right play, and I was able to do that."
His performance came five days after he ran headfirst into teammate Semi Ojeleye's midsection in the second quarter of Friday's loss in Denver. Walker remained on the ground for several minutes before eventually being taken off on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital for evaluation.
Walker has since cleared every test without issue, and every scan on his head, neck and back has come back clean. While everything turned out to be fine, he said the initial numbness he felt in his hands is what scared him the most.
"It went away pretty fast," he said Wednesday morning. "I think that's what got me the most nervous when I was on the ground. But, yeah, it went away. They just wanted to make sure I was good, I was safe. So they kept me from moving and put me on a stretcher, obviously.
"But yeah, like I said, thank God I'm OK and it wasn't as bad as it looked."
It was bad enough, though, that Walker wound up sitting out Monday's game against the Sacramento Kings, snapping his games-played streak at 158.
"I'm not gonna lie, I was really pissed about that," Walker said. "I wanted to play. I wanted to keep the streak alive. I can't lie, I was pissed. But I guess it was gonna happen at some point."
Walker admitted that it made sense for him to take the extra couple of days to make sure he was all right before returning to the lineup.
He also said the Celtics gave him the choice as to whether he should play against the Kings.
"They left it up to me," Walker said. "They left it up to me. I knew they wanted me to sit out a little bit, so I just said I was gonna sit out."
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November 27, 2019 at 06:40PM
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