With so many moving parts this season, it’s understandable that Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics needed a few weeks to figure out their optimal lineups and rotations.
It didn’t take long, though, as they already seem to have figured those out.
After thumping the Washington Wizards on Thursday, the Celtics have now won eight of their last 10 games, climbing to fifth in the Eastern Conference standings.
One change that ignited Boston’s hot streak was inserting Jordan Walsh into the starting lineup.
Walsh, 21, is in his third NBA season. He scarcely played during Boston’s championship season as a rookie but saw more action off the bench last year, getting into 52 games.
Story continues below advertisement
Prior to this year, however, Walsh was almost exclusively a role player, starting just two games over his first two seasons.
Mazzulla gave him an opportunity this season, and he’s flourished in his expanded role. Since joining the starting lineup, he’s averaging 8.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in 25 minutes per game while shooting 60.8 percent from the floor and playing tenacious defense.
Story continues below advertisement
Walsh just enjoyed the best game of his career on Thursday, stepping up with Jaylen Brown out. He scored a career-high 22 points while making all eight of his field-goal attempts, becoming the youngest player in franchise history to have a game with at least 20 points and a perfect field-goal percentage. He also added seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block, propelling the short-handed Celtics to a resounding 146-101 victory.
Since Walsh joined the starting lineup, Boston’s gone 8-2 and has the best offensive rating (128.3) in the NBA.
Walsh is stepping up big time this year, and his breakout season is a big reason why the Celtics are playing great basketball and exceeding expectations.
Story continues below advertisement
Featured image via Brian Fluharty/Imagn Images
