Sunday afternoon marked the return of two point guards for the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns.
Boston's Kemba Walker made his Orlando debut, but he wasn't on the floor for long, while the Suns got Ricky Rubio back after he joined the team in the bubble just six days ago. Walker, who has been dealing with a left knee injury, sat out Boston's first scrimmage but played on Sunday in the Celtics' 117-103 win over the Suns, although he was on the floor for only nine minutes.
Walker said he felt good and was "looking to take steps forward" with his teammates. Celtics coach Brad Stevens said the plan was to play Walker just 9-10 minutes and he reiterated Walker will be on a minutes restriction when the seeding games start -- something Walker said he wishes he didn't have to do.
"I would love to just be like, 'You know what? I don't care about no minutes restriction or anything of that nature.' But obviously I can't," Walker said. "I got to be smart about things. At this point, it just is what it is. I want to be there for my teammates when we're in the playoffs. Hopefully, by then, the restrictions and things of that nature are completely off."
Still, Stevens was encouraged by what he saw in his All-Star point guard.
"But I thought he looked good, I thought he had his burst, I thought he played hard defensively," Stevens said. "He created chaos on a couple of different plays. Offensively, I thought he got to the rim and/or got his shot."
In those nine minutes of action, Walker scored six points on 2-of-6 shooting while going 1-of-4 from distance. He was 1-of-3 from the line and added one rebound and one turnover. Walker started and played six minutes in the first quarter and three minutes in the second quarter. He did not play in the second half.
Walker returned from the All-Star break in February with swelling in his left knee. He said he felt fine when he returned in June to do individual workouts with the Celtics but later felt discomfort. Walker had been working his way back to full health and fully practiced on Saturday before making his return Sunday.
Meanwhile, Rubio told reporters earlier in the week that he contracted the coronavirus while in Phoenix and has only had a handful of practices with his team. He did not play in the Suns' first scrimmage on Thursday. Rubio played 19 minutes and finished with six points, four assists and two rebounds. He played 14 minutes in the first half and five more in the third quarter before calling it a day.
But while the Suns got a starter back in Rubio, they may have lost one in forward Dario Saric. In the second quarter Saric stepped back and rolled his left ankle on the foot of teammate Frank Kaminsky. Saric did not play in the second half. Saric had 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting (2-of-4 from deep) with eight rebounds in the first half.