Boston Celtics vs. Toronto Raptors: Brad Stevens is ‘thrilled’ the Celtics have Kemba Walker for a Game 7

The Boston Celtics take on the Toronto Raptors in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal on Friday.

Here are five things to watch.

1. Brad Stevens has expressed admiration for Kemba Walker at length, but after one of Walker’s worst performances of the season in Game 6, Stevens dropped one more vote of enormous confidence in his star point guard entering Game 7.

“He’s been great,” Stevens said. “He’s a stud in every which way. Listen, I’ve said this before: He loves basketball. He doesn’t get too caught up in anything else. He just wants to do as well as he can and he brings a great vibe to our team and a great intensity to our team and I’m thrilled that we’re going out on the court with him tonight. I just think the world of him and he’s special.”

2. The Celtics have some experience in Game 7s. Jaylen Brown was on the team when they took down the Washington Wizards in 2017. Brown, Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum were involved in Game 7s against the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018.

Still, as Stevens noted, what matters is what happens on Friday evening.

“What has happened in the previous games, whether we won or lost, doesn’t really matter,” Stevens said. “You’ve got to play well tonight. and that’s it. I think the biggest thing that you take away from that experience is it’s a long game. You can’t relax for one minute and tat the same time, we’re not going to win the game in the first minute. So you’ve got to make sure you’re playing the right way all the way through.”

3. Brad Stevens was asked if he believes Toronto has some new tricks Boston hasn’t seen, and whether he has some of the same for the Raptors.

“Yep,” he said.

4. Kevin Garnett weighed in with his prediction. It probably won’t surprise anyone.

5. Not to be outdone, here’s Paul Pierce.

“You guys are the future, the next chapter,” Pierce said in the video. “There’s only one thing left to do. Win.”

Game 7 would take place in Toronto under normal circumstances, so TD Garden wouldn’t have gotten a chance to explode (which, I assume, is why they didn’t finish with Pierce yelling “LET ME FEEL IT”). But one thing remains extremely true: The Celtics know how to make a hype video.

Game 7 tips off a 9 pm (or shortly thereafter) on TNT.

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