February 24, 2021 | 12:40 PM
Kendrick Perkins doesn’t like what he’s seeing with his former team right now.
In particular, the former Celtics center doesn’t like how star point guard Kemba Walker is playing. Following the Celtics’ 110-107 loss to the Mavericks on Tuesday, Perkins suggested that it might be time to move on from Walker.
“I just don’t see Kemba fitting in no more,” Perkins said on NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics Postgame Live.” “Like, to me, the Celtics look better without him on the floor. I mean, I’m sorry I’m being hard on Kemba and a little critical, but it’s just — he’s not filling that void right now on the offensive end and stepping up when it matters the most and on the defensive end he still is a liability.”
Tuesday’s game marked another poor shooting performance for Walker. Despite putting up 21 points in the loss, Walker shot 8-for-19 from the field, including eight consecutive missed shots over a two-quarter span. Walker’s performance on Tuesday comes on the heels of his poor shooting against the Pelicans on Sunday, in which he shot 5-for-21 from the field and 1-for-12 from 3-point range.
Walker’s performances in his last two games have been the story for much of his season. The four-time All-Star is averaging 17.3 points per game while shooting 37.5 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from 3-point territory, all of which are the worst numbers he’s put up since his first few seasons in the league.
The 30-year-old missed the Celtics’ first 11 games of the season after receiving knee injections in the offseason. Walker played on a strict minutes restriction in his first few games back and is unlikely to play in games on back-to-back days.
Prior to the last two games, Walker had a four-game stretch in which he showed signs of his All-Star play. The stretch was capped off with a career-high 28-point performance in the Celtics’ 121-109 win over the Hawks on Friday.
Walker’s struggles have certainly contributed to the Celtics’ disappointing record, which is now below .500 at 15-16. Perkins doesn’t see this team reaching the same heights it’s reached in recent seasons.
“Right now, if we’re looking at this Celtics team the way it’s currently constructed and we think that this is a team that could possibly win this year’s Eastern Conference and make it to the Finals, we’re all fooling ourselves,” Perkins said. “I don’t know if this Celtics team could make it out of the first round, to be honest, and that’s scary.”
The Celtics will look to get back to .500 on Wednesday when they take on the Hawks for the third time in eight days. With Wednesday’s game being the Celtics’ second game in two days, Walker is unlikely to play.
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