Kemba Walker made his Knicks return on Tuesday night after a nine-game absence due to knee soreness, and showed head coach Tom Thibodeau that he is capable of providing the offensive spark he showed when he first returned from his exile to the bench last month.
"It means a lot," Thibodeau said of Walker's return. "You get a player like that, you get strong point guard play, you get good shooting and playmaking, puts a lot of pressure on the defense."
New York couldn't avoid its second straight loss, even with Walker back in the fold, but the veteran's knee looked to hold up just fine, as he logged over 29 minutes of action and scored 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while connecting on four of his eight 3-point attempts.
But Walker would have preferred a win in his first game back at The Garden since Christmas Day.
"I'm definitely a little disappointed, especially because it was my first game back in a while," Walker said. "Definitely wanted to win."
Walker showed no issues with his knee, as he appeared to improve and get more comfortable as the game went on, scoring 17 of his 19 points in the second half to help New York erase a double-digit deficit in a dominant third quarter.
"Felt good, it was good to be out there with my teammates," Walker said. "I just needed to rest, I was a little sore for a while. It was time, really…I just wanted to feel good enough to get back on the court and tonight was the night."
Walker's return and strong second half nearly helped the Knicks complete the comeback, but instead, he was part of another tough loss that New York has experienced far too many of this season, whether Walker has been healthy or not.
"We've got to keep grinding it out," Walker said. "This league is hard, man. It's hard to win games in this league, super hard, no matter who you're playing. We've got to come out and be ready, from the very beginning."
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