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Sunday 6 September 2020 11:44, UK
Kemba Walker has criticised his own shooting performance after the Boston Celtics let a 2-0 lead slip in their Eastern Conference semi-final series against the Toronto Raptors.
The Celtics guard finished four of nine from the field and one of six from deep as he put up 15 points in Saturday night's 100-93 defeat in Game 4.
Boston overall were a disappointing seven for 35 from behind the arc, while the Raptors landed 17 of 44 three-point attempts on their way to levelling the series following OG Anunoby's dramatic buzzer-beating winner in Game 3.
"I got to be more aggressive," said Walker post-game. "I wasn't aggressive enough.
"That's unacceptable on my behalf, to be honest. There's no way I can just be taking nine shots. That's unacceptable."
"Honestly, man, I thought we had great looks," Walker said. "I thought we had great looks throughout the whole game.
"We just really missed. We missed a lot of open ones that we know we can make. Like I said, we gotta make them. We have to make shots. When guys get shots, when guys are open, we gotta knock them shots down."
Walker wasn't the only Celtics player to miscue, with 24-point top scorer Jayson Tatum missing eight of 18 from the field and five of six from long-range.
Jaylen Brown meanwhile managed just four of 18 field goal attempts and two off 11 three-pointers to come away with a series-low 14 points.
In truth, the Raptors' efficiency was by no mean streaks ahead as Pascal Siakam went 10 of 23 from the field and two of 13 from distance, while Kyle Lowry dropped in five of 16 inside the arc and four of 10 three-pointers.
"We've got to find a way, man," added Walker. "We've got to be better. I have to be better. I have to find a way to get my teammates at a higher intensity, and I will. I'm going to try my best to bring the best out of these guys.
"Nobody ever said it was going to be easy. We know how the playoffs is, and these are the defending champs. These guys have been through it. These guys have been through it. They've been through the fight before. They've been down before. They know what it takes.
"But I can't stress enough how much we just have to be better."
The teams are scheduled to face off in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series on Monday.
