Kemba Walker returned to the New York Knicks starting lineup in time for their Christmas Day matchup with the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden and dropped a triple-double to lead his team to a 101-87 victory.
“It’s kind of hard to put it into words, to be honest. It was special, just to be home, with that New York on my chest … a New York City kid, born and raised,” Walker said after the game. “It felt amazing.”
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Walker was taken out of the Knicks rotation completely, earlier this year, but has worked his way back by stringing together several impressive performances.
Saturday, Walker finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
“I’m over it,” Walker said of the benching. “It don’t matter anymore at this point. I just take it as a blessing. I think it was a blessing in disguise, to be honest.”
He continued: “God just works in mysterious ways, man. He’s blessed me, he’s helped me stay humble, grounded, and he just got me through a tough situation. I just continued to work, and time goes on and guys go down, and I’m back. First game against my old team, I’m back in the starting lineup, and the rest is history from there. Everything happens for a reason.”
[Via]