It might seem strange that the hopes and dreams of the next Boston sports championship rests largely in the hands of the guy in the Yankees hat. But these are strange times.
Area sports fans have been left living vicariously through a Tampa Bay Buccaneers' quarterback. The Red Sox are making trades with that team in the Bronx. And Zdeno Chara is just more than a week away from playing in TD Garden while wearing a uniform that doesn't belong to the Bruins.
So when Kemba Walker stepped to the microphone after the Celtics' much-needed 121-109 win over the Hawks Friday night while wearing the cap of his hometown New York baseball team, it probably doesn't send the shockwaves it might have elicited a year or three ago.
These days, Boston sports fans will take whatever they can get. And in this case the reality is there will be no chance at optimism without the guy in the Yankees hat.
The Celtics really, really need a good Walker. That fact was put on full display once again during this latest win.
The guard turned in his best came of the season, totaling 28 points in 34 minutes while doing an admirable job chasing around Hawks superstar Trae Young.
While the Celtics have been mired in a wave of inconsistency, Walker's presence has helped fix that. In his last four games, he has made 17 of his 31 three-point attempts, a far cry from the shooting slump the guard experienced upon his initial entrance into the season.
Much like the Celtics' overall existence, Walker remains a work in progress thanks to the limitations put on that surgically-repaired knee.
Brad Stevens noted that as well as Walker played throughout the win over the Hawks, he wasn't going to be able to use him if the game went into overtime due to minutes restrictions.
Ultimately, the goal is to get Walker to the regular season finish line so there are postseason performances along the lines of what the Celtics experience Friday night. But that doesn't mean this is going to be a seamless journey the rest of the way.
The Celtics still need help -- as Danny Ainge recently pointed out when admitting this is not a contending team as currently constructed. But this we know: Even with Jayson Tatum, even with Jaylen Brown, even with whatever player might be coming on board thanks to that trade exception, there is no hope without something close to this version of Walker.
"You can tell he's coming along," Tatum said. "Each and every game he just feels, seems, looks a lot more like himself. That's what we all expected. So, hopefully we can just get him out there more often."
