Where Colin Cowherd Ranks Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker Among NBA Duos Inside Bubble

Much of the talk ahead of the NBA’s 2019-20 season restart has been centered around the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, and understandably so.

Colin Cowherd, however, seems to be all in on the Boston Celtics.

It’s tough to blame Cowherd for being high on the C’s. Boston, which currently holds the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, features a wealth of high-end scoring depth, and its small-ball style of play could bode well inside the league’s Orlando bubble. “The Herd” also believes the Celtics boast the league’s third-best duo set to compete at Walt Disney World, only behind the Lakers’ LeBron James and Anthony Davis and Clippers’ Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, respectively.

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“I think these guys are undervalued, Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker,” Cowherd said Monday on FOX Sports 1. “Kemba Walker has been a great pro forever, but he played in Charlotte and nobody watches their games. It’s more of a NASCAR, football, college basketball market. Tatum was torrid before the break. Jayson Tatum has become a top-six player in the NBA, was averaging 29 (points) and nine (rebounds) since the All-Star break. So, whatever it was for Jayson Tatum, it popped after the All-Star break. When these guys are on the floor together, the Celtics outscore people by almost 11 1/2 points per 100 possessions. What I like about Boston: Even if one of them struggles, I get some Gordon Hayward, I get some Jaylen Brown. No other team in the league has four guys that can drop 23 and I wouldn’t be surprised. Bunch of winners, a winning coach, a winning culture, a very good player who had to get a better fit and Boston’s been great for him.”

Walker, who’s been battling a lingering knee injury over the past few months, arguably has been the Celtics’ biggest question mark ahead of the season restart. But the star point guard returned to action Sunday in Boston’s second of three scrimmages and seemed to be encouraged with how things went.

The C’s will play their final exhibition game Tuesday night against the Houston Rockets before battling the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday in their first of eight seeding contests.

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