The Celtics have turned around their season with the play of two new starters this season in Jordan Walsh and Neemias Queta.
At 15-10, which is currently the third best record in the Eastern Conference, Boston has gone 11-3 in their last 14 to slide from the 10th seed to three games back of the second place New York Knicks (18-7).
Ironically, the Celtics find themselves ascending ever since the insertion of Walsh into the starting lineup a month ago in a 131-95 victory at home against the Memphis Grizzlies. The former second-round pick has had the task of guarding some of the league's best scorers such as James Harden, Anthony Edwards, Cade Cunningham and Donovan Mitchell -- just to name a few.
Walsh is averaging 9.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals per contest since entering the starting lineup and is shooting 81.1% from the field, including 75% from deep and 87.5% from the free throw line so far in the month of December (five games).
"I don't want to boost his head up too much," Jaylen Brown said to reporters Saturday of Walsh, in a joking matter. "I don't want him to start getting cute. You gotta still take care of the details."
Even in the Celtics 116-101 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, Walsh was one of the few bright spots -- scoring 18 of his 20 points at the break in a otherwise poor showing from a team that couldn't find their offense in the second half.
"I wouldn't say any of the looks were bad looks," Walsh said in his postgame comments. "I feel like the shots we took -- if we take those again next game, a lot of them are going in. It just happened tonight that we got them up and they didn't fall. But as easily as they didn't fall, they could just as easily go the other way and go in. We've got to find a way to retune ourselves, get stops on the other end, and create advantages -- maybe in second-chance points or whatever it may be -- to try to affect the game."
Still, Walsh has been impressive on both ends of the floor, especially his shooting as he's knocked down 19-of-39 (49%) from beyond the arc and has connected on 60.2% of his attempts from the floor for the season -- which is just another example of how the 21-year-old is taking full advantage of the opportunity of not just increased playing time but also a whole new role as a starter.
"He's obviously in the past has show signs of being able to do it and he's continued to get better at that," C's coach Joe Mazzulla told reporter Saturday when asked of Walsh's development. "It's obvious of his work ethic, but it's also getting the opportunity to be able to do that and take advantage of it."
For Neemias Queta, he's another reason for the Celtics recent success, as the big man doesn't take lightly his responsibilities as the team's starting center.
"I don't think there's a moment where I don't think about it like that," Queta said in his post-practice comments. "I'm always appreciative of this opportunity. It's not just any franchise. It's the Boston Celtics. It's the biggest franchise in the NBA. We've been here for so long. The most winningest, too."
Queta is putting up a career-best 10.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 65.2% from the field. The 26-year old also ranks fifth in the NBA in points scored (57) when it comes to the pick and roll with either Payton Pritchard or Derrick White -- with a field-goal percentage (71.1%) that ranks first among the top five.
"I think that's one of my strengths being out of the dunker, whether it's for shots, whether it's for relocations, to attract the defense or to rebound," Queta said. "I think I do a pretty good job of relocating and finding windows. That's all you can ask for, and then after that, it's either finishing, catching the ball or making the right reads."
As far as the two new starters in Walsh and Queta, the task of having to find the balance of increased playing time and good results while still looking to improve remains a process with a ton of the regular season left.
"When you have young players, you have to have all those conversations," Mazzulla said. "It's stuff that happens in life. But I think our guys here -- we have a good culture and atmosphere of that mental performance -- to be able to work through that."
Mazulla also noted the highs and lows of an NBA player is always a lesson worth learning if one wants to continue to improve everyday.
"Everyone talks about player development as skills on-court, but what you're talking about is a piece of player development as well -- how you handle those things throughout the season," he said. "It's not just the praise, too. It's handling not playing well. It's handling, 'Can you bounce back?'"
The Celtics will look to bounce back Monday night when they host the East leading Detroit Pistons (20-5) at TD Garden. NBC/Peacock will have the tip-off at 7:00 pm ET.
Joel Pavón
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