Kemba Walker listed as doubtful Friday against the Spurs

Kemba Walker continues to remain as the only Celtic on the injury report. The team has officially listed him as doubtful with a left oblique strain for Friday night’s game against the visiting San Antonio Spurs.

After contesting a Terry Rozier three-pointer last Sunday, Walker raced to the locker room holding his side.

He’d return to the contest and finish with 20 points and four assists in 29 minutes in the loss. After the game, Walker said of the freak injury, “I can’t really explain it, to be honest. I don’t know. I just felt some weird pain in my side. I can’t really explain it. It was just pretty painful at the time.” Walker has now missed consecutive games against the Oklahoma City Thunder and a rematch with his former team, the Charlotte Hornets.

With nine games left in the season and important playoff seeding at stake, the Celtics would love to get their starting point guard back, but all year, they’ve prioritized his health with postseason goals in mind. Because of their dilligence (and Kemba’s continued patience with the process), Walker ends his April with arguably his best month as a Celtic and on par with the months leading up to his All-Star selection last season. He’s averaging nearly 18 points per game on 45% shooting. His six assists per game is his highest monthly average for the year and his turnovers are down, too.

If he doesn’t play against San Antonio, Walker’s first chance to return will be on Sunday when the Celtics wrap up their homestand against the Portland Trail Blazers. For what it’s worth, Boston has two more remaining back-to-backs: one featuring the Miami Heat and the other, the final game of the season in Madison Square Garden.