BOSTON — It’s been an up-and-down start to the season for the Boston Celtics so far, who dropped their first three games of the season and entered Tuesday night riding another two-game losing streak.
But,
against the Washington Wizards, they righted the ship, earning a 136-107 win after a monster second quarter turned a 12-point deficit into a 10-point advantage.
The victory was a team effort that was headlined by the usual suspects: Jaylen Brown poured in 35 points on 13-21 FG, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds — all in just 25 minutes of action. Payton Pritchard, the Celtics’ second-leading scorer this season, posted 18 points and 5 assists, continuing his efficient scoring from inside the arc.
Neemias Queta posted his most dominant game of the year, tallying 15 points on a perfect 7-7 from the field alongside 12 rebounds and 5 assists.
And, Josh Minott, who has solidified his spot in the starting lineup in recent days, set a new career-high in points — exploding for 21 points on 8-12 shooting, alongside 5 rebounds and 3 steals. He also sank a season-high three three-pointers, two of which came in a first quarter in which the Celtics struggled to generate offense and fell behind by double-digits.
Perhaps most notably?
The Celtics, who have seemingly been in a season-wide shooting slump, found a rhythm from the outside, hitting 16 of 41 three-point attempts en route to a 39% shooting performance.
But after the game, Joe Mazzulla — who sometimes holds back on individual praise — acknowledged that one of the turning points of the night was the play of Jordan Walsh.
Walsh, who was a +27 in 24 minutes off the bench, didn’t do anything crazy; he finished with 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist.
But the third-year forward played with an energy the Celtics sorely lacked to begin the game. Mazzulla went so far as to say he thought that 21-year-old’s play sparked the turnaround.
“I thought he was great tonight — just both ends of the floor, his presence defensively, his rebounding, his positioning,” Mazzulla said. “He’s got good defensive instincts. I thought he played really well.”
Walsh is in his third NBA season and has yet to break through as a rotation player. The No. 38 pick in 2023, Walsh spent most of his rookie season in the G League, and most of his sophomore season with the parent club. But, even then, he played a minimal role last year, averaging 7.8 minutes across 52 appearances.
Jordan Walsh’s on-court opportunities have been infrequent
It seemed likely that the Celtics’ slew of offseason departures could mean that Walsh would see more opportunities this year.
But, so far this season, Walsh has played two minutes or fewer in 7 of 9 games. His only substantial on-court run came in a blowout loss to the Houston Rockets on Saturday, in which he scored 10 points in 19 minutes.
But when Wednesday night came around and the Celtics needed a boost, Walsh was ready. His head coach has noticed — and appreciated — that he’s been unaffected by the inconsistent on-court opportunity.
“He works at the same pace, regardless of if he’s playing or not,” Mazzulla said.
The reliability of Walsh’s three-point shot remains an open question — he’s shooting a 27.5% clip for his career, albeit in a limited sample. On Wednesday, he hit 1 of 2 attempts.
Whether Walsh will ultimately beat out players like Hugo Gonzalez, Baylor Scheierman, and Chris Boucher for backup minutes remains to be seen. A lot will depend on the intangibles:
Who crashes consistently? Who is most disciplined on the defensive end? Who plays with an indefatigable spirit?
Regardless, on Wednesday, the Celtics forward substantially contributed to a much-needed victory. And, after tough back-to-back losses, the Celtics are back on track.
