Jordan Walsh’s NBA life is on the line — and Mazzulla loves how he’s handled it

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ORLANDO — Normally, when Jordan Walsh plays the entire fourth quarter, it means the game is out of reach.

Just a week ago, in a blowout Celtics loss to the Houston Rockets, Walsh played all 12 fourth-quarter minutes, running around and getting up shots against the Rockets’ two-way players.

But this time, Walsh’s fourth-quarter minutes were wildly different.

Walsh began the final period with the Celtics trailing by two in a back-and-forth game against the Orlando Magic. And, on the first play of the quarter, he calmly attempted a three-pointer off a feed from Payton Pritchard.

Swish.

Walsh didn’t sub out the rest of the night, playing the entire fourth in Sunday’s 111-107 win over the Magic. The 21-year-old finished with 6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals, his biggest play coming when he hit the dagger three-pointer on the Celtics’ final offensive possession.

Boston had a two-point lead and the ball with just over 30 seconds to play. A bucket would all but secure the victory, while a miss would keep the outcome of the game hanging in the balance.

Who would attempt the final shot?

Maybe it’d be Jaylen Brown, who has led the Celtics offensively all season long, and headlined the game with 27 points.

Or, it’d be Derrick White, who was in the midst of his highest-scoring offensive game since opening night, having poured in 21 points.

Perhaps it’d be Payton Pritchard, who has been the Celtics’ most consistent second option this season.

Walsh, like the rest of us, didn’t know.

But the third-year forward perfectly read the final possession, and as soon as a driving Brown kicked it out to Pritchard at the top of the arc, Walsh relocated to the corner.

Pritchard kicked it out to Walsh — and Walsh delivered.

“At first, I was thinking JB is going to shoot this, so let me go get a rebound,” Walsh said. “So, I was running to get a rebound, then he swung it to P, and I said P might pass this to me, so I said let me get out [to the three-point line], and he saw me and hit me. I hit it and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’”

The Celtics’ bench rejoiced; Hugo Gonzalez, Luka Gara, and the others erupted from their seat to meet Walsh at center court.

Walsh himself seemed stunned: “I didn’t even celebrate it. I was just kind of in the moment.”

In a week, Walsh went from completely out of the Celtics’ rotation to one of the team’s most crucial players.

“He gets rewarded by playing hard these past few games,” Brown said.

It all seemingly started in that Rockets game just eight days ago — his first time playing more than two minutes in a game this season.

In that blowout loss, Walsh scored 10 points in 19 minutes of relatively inconsequential action.

Walsh carried that momentum over in a Wednesday win over the Washington Wizards, in which he played 24 minutes and tallied 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals. Later, Walsh agreed with the notion that he was fighting for his life.

“Anything I could do to mess up the game, I was doing,” Walsh said of his game-altering minutes against the Wizards. “There were some moments where I was confused at what I was doing, but if I’m confused, I know they’re confused too.”

Mazzulla has been thrilled to observe the way Walsh is fighting for his career.

“You have to have that type of urgency, especially for a young player, and it’s hard to teach that, it’s hard to simulate that, it’s hard to do that — but he’s turned it on, and he has that sense of urgency as if he’s playing like his basketball life is on the line,” Mazzulla siad. “And, he should play that way, and it’s a credit to him.”

On Saturday, Walsh got the opportunity that he had long waited for.

But, it didn’t begin this season. It began almost three years ago.

In the summer of 2023, Walsh was drafted as a 19-year-old as a relatively raw prospect who was less than a year removed from high school.

Walsh is the first to admit that he didn’t know how to be a professional basketball player in Year 1.

“I didn’t really know what the expectation was,” he said. “I didn’t know how to prepare for a game. I didn’t know what it looked like. I was just a kid coming out of college, just wanting to play.”

He spent his first year in the league with the Maine Celtics before mostly racking up DNPs as a second-year player on the parent club.

But Walsh isn’t 19 anymore.

He’s in his third NBA season, and he’s learned how to be a pro. He credits the long list of veterans he’s played with for mentoring; after the win, he shouted out Al Horford and Jayson Tatum, in particular. While Horford is no longer on the roster, an injured Tatum continues to coach Walsh up from the sidelines.

“Anytime he’s pulling me aside and telling me something, I listen,” Walsh said. “Because it could help me for this game or the next game — or maybe in my career.”

The growth in maturity and meticulous preparation has been evident to Mazzulla. So, when it was time to pick five players to close out Sunday’s game, Walsh made the cut.

“One of the reasons why I trusted him, and went with him, is because of his work ethic behind the scenes,” Mazzulla said. “His body language and work ethic never changed, even when he wasn’t playing. I told him, you seem to forget — you guys are the only guys that I’ve worked with in the NBA as an assistant. So I know what they’re going through physically, mentally, psychologically. And, it just doesn’t matter. You have to do it. He’s done a great job of just doing it.

Walsh did it on both ends in the Celtics’ win over the Magic

Defense (and rebounding) is probably what will get Walsh on the court. That was the case on Sunday.

“Jordan was tremendous on [Paolo] Banchero tonight,” Mazzulla said, pointing out that Walsh perfectly followed the Magic star’s tendencies.

Walsh took pride in preparing for the Banchero match-up, carefully watching film with his player development coaches.

“I honed in on him, specifically, because I knew that was going to be my matchup, and once I got out there, it was kind of just a feel, a feel of how aggressive he is trying to be,” Walsh said. “Is he using his left hand? Is he driving, or does he want to settle for pull-ups? Or is he trying to get all the way to the rim? So, trying to take those tendencies and shift them into my favor to make him take the shots I want him to take that we want him to take was — I think — the difference.”

And, while great defense seems to be the prerequisite to more Walsh minutes, how his offense comes around could ultimately determine how his NBA career plays out.

On Saturday, Walsh went 2-2 from beyond the arc, both treys coming in the decisive fourth quarter. And this season, albeit in a limited sample, he’s shooting 37.5% from three-point range, an efficiency that would make him a weapon on the floor. Walsh is seeking out that three-point shot because he understands how it will benefit his teammates.

“I feel like I got to make the other team respect it, or else they’re just gonna sag off me and go double-team JB the whole game,” Walsh said. “So making them respect it, to give him more space, to open him up, is my role. I’m trying to be the best role player I can be.”

Sunday’s win certainly felt like a breakthrough moment.

Walsh got the walk-off interview, and was inundated with high-fives in the Celtics locker room.

But Mazzulla doesn’t want Walsh to get complacent. The effort and intensity can’t waiver.

“He’s got to keep it up,” Mazzulla said. “It’s easy now that you got minutes to relax, and you have to — even when you’re playing well — to make sure you play like your life is on the line.”

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