The Celtics made their first starting lineup change while healthy since Nov. 11 on Saturday night against the Clippers. Joe Mazzulla opted to start Sam Hauser in place of Jordan Walsh for the final game of the team’s road trip in Los Angeles.
Walsh had started every game while healthy for Boston since Nov. 11 with Boston going 15-5 in that stretch during games with Walsh active. However, the third-year forward has seen his role reduced lately. He had played under 15 minutes in four of his last five games and just five first half minutes against the Kings on Thursday night before he was benched for the entire second half.
“It’s nothing that he’s doing wrong,” Mazzulla told reporters in Sacramento Thursday night. “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.”
Hauser was a part of Boston’s starting five to begin the season but Mazzulla went away from that group after the team’s 0-2 start. The veteran forward snapped out of an early season shooting funk in November and knocked down 40 percent of his 3s last month. With two stellar shooting outings on Boston’s road trip, Joe Mazzulla opted to lean into more spacing against a Clippers defense that had won six straight games entering Saturday night.
Walsh remained in Boston’s rotation despite the demotion, playing 14 first half minutes against the Clippers.