It’s been over three weeks since Jordan Walsh logged extended minutes for the Boston Celtics, a stretch unrelated to the illness that sidelined him on Dec. 22 or to his on-court performance.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla clarified that after Boston’s 120-106 win over the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night. Walsh made his 19th consecutive start, but after just five minutes on the floor at the Golden 1 Center, his night was over. Mazzulla turned to Boston’s bench and leaned into the team’s depth as they pulled away for their sixth win in the last seven games amid a challenging road trip.
“It’s nothing he’s doing wrong. It’s just that we can go to so many different things,” Mazzulla said. “You saw what Sam (Hauser) was able to do in the first half, and I thought that coming out of halftime and making a change could kind of throw a team off to start the game.”
Walsh attempted just one shot — a missed layup — in Sacramento, grabbed a single rebound, and finished scoreless before being replaced by Anfernee Simons with 6:54 left in the first quarter. And then in the second half, Hauser started in place of Walsh. From there, Simons, Hauser, and the rest of the reserve unit took over. They scored efficiently to maintain offensive pressure during stretches without Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, and made up for the lively spark the Celtics typically get from Walsh’s presence in the starting lineup — ultimately rewarding Mazzulla’s instincts.
The decision wasn’t meant to single out Walsh as a liability, but rather to throw Sacramento off.
Boston’s Stay Ready group — Hauser, Simons, Luka Garza, Hugo González, and Baylor Scheierman — chipped in with 46 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists, and four steals. They shot 17-for-29 from the floor (58.6%) and knocked down a dozen 3-pointers, nearly forcing Mazzulla to hesitate before reverting back to the starters during their red-hot stretches.
Everyone besides Scheierman, who was limited to under nine minutes, registered a positive plus-minus, helping bring Mazzulla’s scheme to life.
“It’s really just taking any advantage we can with the entire roster we have and trying to win segments of the game, go on runs, and catch the opponent off guard with different matchups and opportunities,” he said.
Hauser connected on five 3-pointers for the third time in his last seven games, finishing with 15 points. Garza contributed across the stat sheet, grabbing three rebounds, assisting on two baskets, tallying two steals, and even knocking down a 3-pointer of his own. Simons, the third reserve to reach double figures, helped stabilize the Celtics’ bench effort with 14 points and four assists. The latest opportunity became an outlet, not for any single player to stand out, but for the group to operate collectively — allowing each member to make an impact in their own way at different moments.
Overall, the bench played a major role in shaping Boston’s winning formula. The Celtics shot over 47% from the field for the 17th time this season, made more than 17 threes for the 11th time, and scored over 117 points for the 16th time — and in each instance, Boston has remained undefeated.
That’s the culture: everyone — if not now, then later — gets their at-bat. It’s what allowed Walsh to move from a backup to a regular part of the starting lineup, and for now, that role isn’t in jeopardy. He’ll still be counted on to start games and deliver the first-quarter impact that has routinely given opponents trouble, including stars like Cade Cunningham, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Austin Reaves, who have struggled to get their scoring engines going when face-to-face against him.
This time, it was a collaborative effort that lifted the Celtics and brought them within two games of the New York Knicks for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Whether it’s Walsh, Hauser, Garza, Simons, González, or Scheierman, that approach won’t change. Mazzulla will continue digging deep to extract every ounce of winning basketball from every player on the floor, and whoever shows the most will to go the extra mile — or finds the hot hand — will earn their time in the spotlight.
“They’ve been huge,” White said. “All year, they’ve been huge for us. They come in, change the game, bring energy, win 50/50 balls, make shots — they do a little bit of everything for us. So we’re a complete team, and we need everybody.”
