As we enter the final week of the regular season, the Celtics have started to telegraph what their playoff rotation may look like. They’ve settled into a starting lineup of Derrick White, Sam Hauser, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Neemias Queta, with Payton Pritchard playing starter minutes off the bench, one backup center - Luka Garza or Nikola Vucevic - and one backup wing, which has been Baylor Scheierman.
When the rubber meets the road, that’s who Joe Mazzulla and his staff are going to rely on. But realistically, Boston won’t be able to get away with playing just an eight-man rotation for every single minute of the playoffs.
They are going to have to work in at least one other player, which shouldn’t be a problem. The Cletics have relied on their depth all season long, and should have a plethora of options if they need to find minutes for someone else.
For most of the season, it has appeared that the next man up would be Hugo Gonzalez, who has had an excellent rookie year, bringing great energy and effort off the bench and developing into a solid three-and-D wing.
Jordan Walsh has jumped Hugo Gonzalez in the rotation
But recently, Hugo has taken a back seat and has been out of the rotation for the last couple of weeks. Perhaps some of it is thanks to a rookie wall, maybe the coaches haven’t loved what they’ve seen from him lately, maybe he has simply been outplayed, or maybe they’re actually saving him for the playoffs.
Whatever the reason for this recent change, the biggest beneficiary has been Jordan Walsh, who has been acting as the ninth man recently, and the next wing off the bench after Scheierman.
Walsh has been in and out of the rotation all season long, at times appearing like one of their best three-and-D options, and at other times racking up DNP-CDs. But he seems to have earned the trust of his coaching staff. They know he’ll go out there and bust his hump, play tenacious defense, crash the boards, and put up open threes with confidence.
He has flashed the ability to attack a closeout at times and is one of the best athletes on the team, making flashy, highlight-type plays that can swing momentum. We’ll see whether or not this amounts to anything once the postseason actually begins, but it’s certainly notable that there seems to be a change taking place in the final days of the season.