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StatMuse: Celtics 3-point shooting in Game 7. Jaylen Brown: 3-9 3P Derrick White: 5-16 3P Baylor Sheierman: 0-3 3P Payton Pritchard: 2-7 3P Hugo Gonazlez: 0-3 3P Jordan Walsh: 0-2 3P Ron Harper Jr: 0-1 3P Luka Garza: 0-2 3P Sam Hauser: 3-6 3P Mazzulla ball.
Jordan Walsh: Anything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. And I think those moments kind of made me stronger, I guess. You know, X, my first year, didn’t play most of the season and then comes in the Finals, gets a big shot, plays, you know. So stories like that kind of give me inspiration to know that it’s not over till it’s over, you know, kind of keep playing till the buzzer ends, in a sense, throughout the whole season. And so it’s a big thing, you know, kind of like reviving yourself. Like, I got a comment from Joe one time. He was like, “Your career, you were dead in the water, and now you’re back alive.” So that’s kind of heartbreaking, but also cool to hear at the same time. So I think it’s all part of the process.
Bobby Krivitsky: Joe Mazzulla praises Jordan Walsh for the job he did on LaMelo Ball tonight as well as his impact at the offensive end, noting a corner 3 he buried, among other plays he made on that side of the ball.
Jordan Walsh knew that his Celtics team was going to be just fine. In the offseason, when many in the media and the public predicted the Celtics would end up a lottery team, Walsh could only laugh. “As soon as I started hearing people talking about losing and tanking and all that stuff, I immediately knew that that was never gonna be us,” Walsh told CelticsBlog at a PIMCO-sponsored dinner at the Lawrence Boys and Girls Club.
The discourse around the Celtics tanking was particuarly wild for the 22-year-old to digest. “What is that? What does that mean purposely lose? Like, try not to win? Walsh said. ”There’s never going to be a situation where I feel like the Boston Celtics are not going to try to win — especially with Joe as the head coach.” “Nobody in our organization wants to lose. I don’t care what it’s for – from Brad [Stevens] all the way down to me, nobody ever wants to lose.”
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“Ron’s getting better,” Pritchard said. “But second is tied between Neemi and D-White.” “I’m a newcomer,” Harper Jr. added. What about Walsh? “Jordan sucks,” Pritchard said. Not everyone on the team plays Catan. Sam Hauser said he has yet to dabble with the crowd-favorite. Hauser, who said he’s not even sure how the game works, asked Queta who typically wins. “Definitely not me,” quipped the Portuguese big man.
Garza credits Boston’s coaching staff for getting the most out of the guys. It’s easy to look at him, Neemias Queta, Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez, and Jordan Walsh as prime examples of what it takes to stay ready so they don’t have to get ready. “We do have a lot of great coaches who understand the game at a high level and push us in the right ways and kinda put you in a good spot,” Garza said. “I think that's helped. They put us out there. “But at the end of the day, all of us are just guys who've worked hard our entire careers and wanted the chance to show it, but haven't necessarily had the opportunity to. And so, when that time comes, luck, opportunity, timing, that's a recipe for success.”
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Looking at the season, what has the journey been like with the Celtics this year, especially with so many people doubting the group? Jordan Walsh: For sure! I think that’s the whole team. Everybody thought that we were going to tank and get a high draft pick, you know? Guys came in and stepped up and played above their standards, and that’s the most incredible part of this team. Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Is there a specific song or a verse that you listen to that keeps you motivated throughout the grind of the season? Jordan Walsh: Yeah. I listen to Walter Bonds. One of my favorite speeches is the “Shark Mentality” speech that he had, and I kind of listen to it before every game. Now I’ve kind of gotten away from it, but that was definitely a speech that I immediately blended with because it would put me in a different space.
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: You’ve been very active in the community recently. What have you been doing to work with kids and adults who are dealing with the same diagnosis? Jordan Walsh: I mean, it’s huge. I partner with NAAF (National Alopecia Areata Foundation) to raise awareness and also try to help kids out that are younger than me—from the age that I was when I was first diagnosed. I try to help them go through it because I know it’s a tough world and I can sympathize with them; I know exactly what they’re going through. Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Have you been able to connect with other athletes or entertainers who also have Alopecia? Jordan Walsh: Yeah, there have been a couple of people. A couple of football players, and then mentors like Charlie Villanueva. He’s a good dude and we talk quite a bit. I’ll be at his house chillin’, so he’s definitely been a big mentor to me for sure.
Noa Dalzell: The Celtics updated their injury report and Jayson Tatum remains questionable. Jordan Walsh is also questionable now with an illness.
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But Josh Minott hit a slump before suffering a severe ankle injury that sidelined him for five weeks. He lost playing time to Hugo González, Jordan Walsh and Baylor Scheierman, and with Boston facing both a roster and cap crunch, the Nets squeezed them for Minott, sending no picks or players and just the minimum cash required to make a deal official ($110,000, per sources).
Neemias Queta has started 43 games and has blossomed into a reliable center (10.0 points, 8 rebounds, 1.3 blocks per game), helping to fill the void left by the departures of bigs Porzingis, Horford and Kornet. Gonzalez, the 28th pick in the 2025 draft, has partnered with 2023 second-round pick Jordan Walsh to provide energy and effort on the wings, clearing the way for White, Brown and Pritchard to shoulder the scoring load. "They're doing a great job with player development, doing a great job on the margins," the West executive said of Boston's revamped supporting cast. "Sure, there's luck involved, but they're a really good team. They're playing with house money. I love watching them."
Removed from the Boston Celtics starting lineup for the first time since early in the season, Jordan Walsh said he needs to do more. “I think just leaving a print on the game,” Walsh said. “I feel like the other team has to feel me. The other staff has to feel me. The other organization has to feel me. Every time I’m on the court, I’ve got to constantly make it hard for everybody else to kind of survive on the other team. I feel like I hadn’t been doing that. So, I’ve gotta make sure that I am doing that.”
Zack Cox: Jordan Walsh (illness) is OUT tonight for the Celtics. He sat out the second half of Saturday’s win at Toronto.
