Jordan Walsh played the first five minutes of the Celtics’ win over the Kings on Thursday then sat for the rest of the night. Sam Hauser took over as a starter for Walsh at halftime in what marked the latest in a steady decline in minutes for Walsh since he sat out the second half of the team’s win at Toronto five games ago. Joe Mazzulla referenced an illness ailing Walsh that night before he missed the Celtics’ win over the Pacers at home.
“It’s nothing he’s doing wrong,” Mazzulla told reporters in Sacramento. “We can go to so many things and I think you saw what Sam was able to do in the first half. Coming out of a halftime and making a change I think can throw a team off. I thought that’s one of the reasons we went on a run was Neemy (Queta’s) defense and our offense is obviously different with Sam out there on the floor. So 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 go on runs and catch the opponents off-guard with different matchups and different opportunities.”
Only one play stood out from Walsh’s opening rotation in Sacramento, an out of control driving layup miss that turned into a 17-12 deficit following a Kings basket the other way. Mazzulla called timeout and inserted Hauser, who reached 30 minutes in the win while Walsh’s involvement reached its lowest point since the opening weeks of the season. That raises questions about his starting job entering the road trip finale in LA on Saturday.
Since the Toronto game, Walsh logged only 19 minutes at Indiana and 10 minutes at Portland after picking up multiple early fouls in each game. He appeared for only three minutes after halftime in Utah, but he has started his last 20 appearances. Boston won 15 of those games. But his continued decline in role in Sacramento called into question whether the Celtics could alter their starting lineup. Hugo González thrived over the past two weeks in a similar role, Anfernee Simons emerged in more three-guard combinations and Hauser is 14 for his last 27 (51.9% 3PT) from three.
It’s unclear why Walsh’s role diminished further beyond his battle with an illness last week. The Celtics drew even or lost his minutes in the previous eight games, and his last breakout performance came in an uncompetitive loss at Milwaukee. Since, he averaged 4.0 points and 3.4 rebounds per game with 0.4 steals and 0.4 blocks per game on defense. Walsh shot 45% from the field (9-20) and 33.3% from three (4-12) over his last seven games. In the six before that, he posted 15.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG and 2.0 SPG while hitting 34-of-44 shots he attempted, appearing indispensable.
Walsh’s emergence came with promise, as his age and limited opportunity projected sustainable growth, though Josh Minott shined in a similar spot earlier this season before moving to the bench and eventually out of the rotation. The Celtics’ constantly changing lineups and rotations made it more likely Walsh would exit the starting unit again rather than stay in it all year and beyond. Minott’s exited the lineup at halftime at Philadelphia on Nov. 11. Walsh started the second half and Minott moved to the bench the following game after Boston won 5-of-9 with him playing next to Queta while the team thrived in their minuets.
Luka Garza more recently replaced Minott in the rotation after he returned to playing effective center minutes on the night Walsh fell ill on Dec. 7. The Celtics previously used a mix of Minott, Walsh and González in small ball units that thrived offensively, helped the team become the league’s top offense in December despite lapsing defensively. That’s another area where Walsh lost an opportunity to impact the game.
And González’ rise could threaten his main one, as his rebounding, on-ball defense and subtle signs of offensive creation ability increased his minutes recently. González closed the Toronto and Miami games, played all but 22 seconds in Boston’s biggest comeback win of this season over Indiana and averaged 6.4 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.0 APG, 1.1 SPG and shot 52.8% from the field in the win. He’s 15-for-38 from three this season (39.5%), though that only amounts to 1.4 attempts per game. Walsh remains 45.1% on 51 attempts. Hauser improved to 37.9% 3PT this week.
Mazzulla may not opt to change things after the Celtics won 3-of-4 to begin their longest road trip of the season. Walsh already lasted twice as long with the starters than Minott did, and his lineup won their minutes by 4.1 points per 100 possessions in 19 games together, with a 118.5 offense rating that’d rank sixth and 114.4 defensive rating in line with the team’s overall productivity — which admittedly leaves some to be desired (15th). Mazzulla also played Walsh for only three minutes after halftime in Brooklyn in favor of Hauser, who closed and thrived late in that win. Yet Walsh still started four days later at home against the Nets.
The Celtics have embraced competition all season. Recently, Garza cut into Queta’s minutes in four of the last six games. Baylor Scheierman played more minutes than Hauser and González at Indiana. González, a rookie, already replaced a champion in Hauser three games into the season at Detroit for one night. Mazzulla even benched Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard to spark the Pacers comeback. There’s an emerging identity and cohesion between Simons, González, Hauser and Garza (+7.2 in 44 mins, 110-103) that Mazzulla may want to maintain, though it’s worth at least watching for a change on Saturday at the Clippers — especially with a massive defensive matchup against a scorching Kawhi Leonard available for the fifth starter.
“The guys have an understanding of the process of winning every night and they stick together in that,” Mazzulla said after Celtics-Pacers. “And there’s not an agenda to who that is We need Jordan to help us win games and to get better and better, so I think there’s a trust factor in each other and a clear understanding that winning is the most important thing. That may look different on every night, but at the same time, he’s one of the guys that has helped us get to where we are today, so we need him to continue to get better and better.”
