Jordan Walsh has been a consistent contributor for the Celtics over the past several weeks, including starting 19 straight games when he’s available. It’s been a breakout season for the 21-year-old, getting his real taste of a rotation spot with the Celtics.
But Walsh only played five minutes in the Celtics’ win over the Kings on Thursday. He got his first stint with the starters. But once he went to the bench, he didn’t check back into the game. C’s coach Joe Mazzulla explained why that was the case Thursday.
“It’s nothing that he’s doing wrong,” Mazzulla said, via the NBC Sports Boston broadcast. “It’s just we can go to so many different things. I think you saw what Sam (Hauser) was able to do in the first half. Coming out of halftime and making a change I think can throw a team off to start a game.
“I thought that’s one of the reasons why we went on a run was that Neemi’s defense and then just kind of our offense is obviously different when you have Sam out there on the floor. It’s really just taking any advantage we can with the entire roster that we have, and just trying to win segments of the game and kind of go runs and catch opponents off-guard with different matchups and different opportunities there.”
As Mazzulla pointed out, Hauser put together a great game where his shot was on. Hauser finished with 15 points, shooting 5-for-7 on 3-pointers. When the sharpshooter is making 3s like that, it’s difficult to take him out of the game. Hauser also opened the second half in Walsh’s spot with the starters.
There was a game where Walsh started then didn’t play in the second half, which was in the win over the Raptors on Dec. 20, 2025. But Mazzulla said that was because Walsh was sick with an illness, which also forced the third-year pro to sit the next game. That wasn’t quite the case with Walsh in Sacramento.
Walsh’s role has been muted over the past three games, averaging 9.3 minutes per game. He’s still the starter, but the Celtics have leaned on their wealth of wings. It was Hauser stepping up Thursday, but rookie Hugo Gonzalez has also been playing great basketball of late. Baylor Scheierman has also had his moments.
It’s a long season, so Walsh will get his opportunities like he did earlier in the year. Even when he wasn’t playing, Mazzulla has spoken about the trust he has in Walsh because of his preparation behind the scenes. Walsh has showed he can be a high-energy wing, so it’s just about consistently contributing on a nightly basis.