Jordan Walsh’s best performance of the summer ended before halftime.
The third-year Celtics forward was ejected from Monday night’s Summer League matchup with the Miami Heat in Las Vegas after picking up two technical fouls in quick succession.
The first came after Walsh drew a foul in transition on a tough make against Erik Stevenson. Walsh bumped Stevenson while celebrating the and-one bucket, and Stevenson shoved him in response, resulting in technicals for both players.
Seven seconds later, Walsh made contact with Pelle Larsson near halfcourt, then pushed the Heat wing into the front row of seats. When Larsson turned to accost him, Walsh shoved him again, then screamed as the two were separated.
The reckless play and ensuing scrum resulted in another set of double technical fouls on Walsh and Larsson. Since the tech was Walsh’s second, he was booted from the game with 3:34 remaining in the first.
Before his early exit, Walsh scored 13 points on efficient 5-of-8 shooting and added three rebounds and one steal in 10 minutes of action. It was shaping up to be a strong bounce-back performance by the 2023 second-round draft pick, who was whistled for seven personal fouls and was 2-for-10 from the field in Sunday’s win over the New York Knicks.
Walsh opened Summer League with a strong 17-point outing (on 6-of-12 shooting) last Friday in a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. He’s the longest-tenured Celtic on the team’s summer squad and is looking to prove he deserves a rotation role in Year 3 after averaging 7.8 minutes per game across 52 appearances last season.
Boston wants Walsh to be aggressive at both ends of the floor, but his lack of composure Monday night likely won’t sit well with the Celtics’ shot-callers, many of whom had a literal front-row seat to his ejection. The group of spectators he pushed Larsson into included Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, team president Rich Gotham, vice president of basketball ops Mike Zarren and incoming majority owner Bill Chisholm.