Through the first two weeks of the Celtics’ season, Jordan Walsh didn’t have much of a role. He was a healthy scratch in three of the first eight games, and by the time November arrived, he had logged fewer than five total minutes across six games.
Flash forward to Sunday afternoon, he found himself in the starting lineup as the primary defender on James Harden, one of the most gifted offensive players the league has ever seen — a three-time scoring champ who ranks 13th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
Harden was the latest assignment in a growing line of talented stars the 21-year-old Walsh has been responsible for slowing down. It started in Orlando with All-Star Paolo Banchero, who has averaged at least 20 points per game every year he’s been in the league, and Franz Wagner, who’s averaging 22.7 this season. Then came Tyrese Maxey in Philadelphia, currently fourth in the NBA at 32.0 points per game after averaging 25 in each of the last two seasons. After that, it was Jaren Jackson Jr., another All-Star who has averaged 22 in back-to-back years.
Walsh held that group to a combined 14 points on 4-of-21 (19%) shooting with five turnovers.
The numbers won’t look as dominant against Harden, who went 3-of-7 (42.9%) when defended by Walsh, but the third-year pro still did an admirable job on the 11-time All-Star. He helped hold Harden to just five first-half points on 1-of-7 shooting — his fewest in a first half this season. Walsh also recorded a career-high three steals, all from Harden, and added a block on him (and should’ve been credited with another).
“We saw it the other night on Maxey. Maxey is a tough cover, but I thought he did a great job just competing — and same thing with James [Harden]. Just denying him the basketball, picking up full-court. Making it tough on him. He did a great job. You need guys like that on your team,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said. “I thought he did an outstanding job just trying to frustrate James, wear him down, and make him tired. He did a great job.”
From the opening tip, Walsh was glued to Harden, defending him on 44.5 possessions — more than half the available possessions — forcing the future Hall of Famer to work for everything with relentless pressure, physicality, and energy.
“He played hard,” Harden said. “He’s a young guy who’s trying to find his niche in the league. That’s what it starts with. The effort and playing hard. He did that tonight.”
The one area Walsh struggled with was keeping Harden off the free-throw line, a challenge most players face. Harden is one of the greatest foul baiters in NBA history, ranking seventh all-time in free-throw attempts and fifth in makes. Against Walsh, Harden drew five shooting fouls, resulting in 11 trips to the charity stripe, making 10 of them.
“He did a great job,” Jaylen Brown said of Walsh’s effort on Harden. “There’s some room for improvement. You don’t want to give a guy free throws, and I think he put him on the line a lot in the second half. That kind of gets guys going when they see a bunch of free throws. I think we sent him to the line three straight possessions, and then that got him going. But I think Jordan has been doing an excellent job. I think it’s his energy level. His physicality has been good. He’s just got to keep building on it, because we need a guy like that that’s going to guard the best players night in and night out.”
At least two of the fouls called on Walsh were a little questionable, despite him doing all he could to avoid them, something that’s inevitably going to happen when a young player goes up against an all-time great, a reality Derrick White alluded to postgame.
“His defense, the last however many games, has been great. Obviously, a lot of different types of matchups. Tonight was a challenging one. I think a couple of times, we didn’t get the calls because [Walsh] is a young kid trying to figure it out,” he said. “It’s great for him to grow and learn from these matchups. He’s competing at a high level and can do a lot of different things defensively. So he’s been great for us, and it’s great to see.”
It’s Walsh’s defense that has helped turn his end-of-the-bench role, where he was getting DNP CDs, into a starting role. His work against some of the league’s top talents has allowed him to set a new career high in minutes four times over the last six games, cracking 30 minutes for the first time in his career on Sunday against Harden.
“He’s an earning opportunity. I thought he did a great job. [Harden] is one of the best foul-drawers in the league,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “If you guard him for 33 minutes, you are going to foul him two or three times. It’s just Jordan’s ability to stay disciplined throughout the entire thing. He’s just showing a true mindset into taking that on and having the professionalism and the toughness to do that every night … He’s doing more than just guarding the other team’s best player.”
Since logging 20 minutes for the first time against Washington on Nov. 5, Walsh ranks second on the team in steals (10), trailing only Derrick White (11). He’s also second in blocks (6), behind White and Neemias Queta (8 each), and third in total rebounds (40), behind Queta (53) and Brown (44). In those six games, the Celtics are +74 with Walsh on the floor and -17 when he’s off.
The defensive rating with Walsh on the floor in those games is 102.0, which would rank first in the NBA. The defensive rating with him off the floor is 120.5, which would rank 27th.
“He’s been doing a heck of a job defending. We need that,” Payton Pritchard said. “He brings the energy, guarding the best [offensive player] every night. I think that’s his calling card, and he needs to continue it because he has great potential in that area. As his offensive game grows – But his defensive game, that’s what will keep him on the court.”
This is the Jordan Walsh the Celtics need and have been looking for. He’s always had the measurements, tools, and intangibles to be a successful role player in the league. The question was whether he could put it all together. While it’s still a small sample size, Walsh — who has played just 71 career games for a total of 659 minutes — is showing with his opportunity that he can.
In what could certainly be considered a make-or-break year, Walsh is making his case that he belongs.
“That’s the role. That’s what you have to become. A guy who can guard anyone on any given night, and he’s embracing that,” Mazzulla said.
“That’s what this team needs. Somebody that can go out and guard the best player every single night,” said Brown. “Even when Jordan wasn’t playing, I was telling him that guy could be you. And he’s got the opportunity, and he’s playing well right now. We’ve got to keep that going.”
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