Kemba Walker is back from his second nine-game respite this season, even though this shutdown was due to a sore knee β unlike the benching that the Bronx native endured in December.
Walker participated in pregame warm-ups and was pronounced fit to play β and in the starting lineup β for Tuesdayβs game against the Timberwolves at Madison Square Garden.
βJust get out there and give us what you have. Heβs been out a while, so weβll see where he is,β Tom Thibodeau said when asked before the game what he expected out of the 31-year-old Walker in his first appearance since Dec. 29 in Detroit. βHis conditioning is not going to be what it normally is, so the first few games weβll just see where heβs at.
βWe actually have good depth right now, so weβll just go from there.β
A key component of that emerging depth recently has been provided by first-round draft pick Quentin Grimes, who averaged 20.2 minutes over the latest nine…