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Kemba Walker had been held scoreless in two of his first 733 regular-season games over 10-plus seasons in the NBA, but the four-time All-Star suddenly has matched that total with zero points in each of the Knicks’ past two contests.
With the trade deadline looming on Feb. 10, the Bronx native’s ballyhooed homecoming clearly has derailed again.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said he’s “not really” concerned about the 31-year-old Walker’s recent slump, but the team’s starting point guard has logged 34 minutes over the past two games against the Kings and the Grizzlies (17 in each). He has missed all six of his field-goal tries without a free-throw attempt in either game.
“To me, Kemba, he’s a proven scorer in this league,” Thibodeau said after Wednesday’s home loss to the Grizzlies. “Players are going to go through different things. And when he’s open, I want to see him shoot, every single time. I just know he can miss 10 in a row and I believe he’s gonna make 10 in a row. That’s just the way the game is.
“If you’re not shooting well, find something else, find a different thing that you can help us with. And usually he does…So just let him navigate through it, and he’ll get going again.”
Walker’s current slump is the latest downturn in a homecoming that he described as “perfect timing” — and said he was “really motivated and super excited about”— upon signing a two-year contract worth $18 million with the Knicks in August.
The former UConn star was benched and taken out of Thibodeau’s rotation entirely for nine games beginning in late November. He initially played well upon returning to the lineup in late December — including a 44-point performance in one game and a triple-double on Christmas in another — before missing an additional nine games in January due to recurrent knee soreness.
Since notching 19 points in his first game back in the lineup on Jan. 18, however, Walker has scored in single digits in each of his last six appearances (4.7 ppg), including his two zeroes on the stat sheet this week. He also has missed 17 of 19 attempts from 3-point range (10.5 percent) over that span.
Of the previous two scoreless outings in Walker’s career, one was a game with the Celtics in November of 2019 in which he was stretchered off the floor after suffering a head injury in a first-half collision with Boston teammate Semi Ojeleye. The other came during his second NBA season with the Hornets in 2012, in which he finished 0-for-6 from the field in 20 minutes against the Thunder.
Overall, the Knicks have dropped six of seven games since Walker was reinserted into the starting lineup to fall to 12th in the Eastern Conference at 24-28 entering a daunting five-game western swing that begins Saturday against the Lakers. The trip continues with road games against the Jazz, Warriors, Nuggets and Trail Blazers, all teams presently in the top-10 playoff and play-in positions in the West.
“I’m not worried about down the road. I’m just thinking about the next game,” Thibodeau said. “The season’s moving along pretty quickly right now, and there has to be an urgency to this. Don’t look too far ahead, just look at the next game and get ready for the next game, that’s it.”
The Knicks’ roster could look markedly different when the team returns from the five-game trek, with less than a week remaining for team president Leon Rose to make moves before the trade deadline.
Dealing Walker or other players could free up playing time for recently acquired Cam Reddish, who has totaled just 20 minutes since the Knicks sent a protected first-round pick and Kevin Knox to the Hawks for him on Jan. 13.
Veteran point guard Derrick Rose also is aiming to return soon after the All-Star break (Feb. 18-20) after rehabbing from December ankle surgery.
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