BOSTON — These Boston Celtics are rooted in defense. Holding opponents to just 109.2 points per game, the second-best mark in the league, the Celtics have scrapped their way to a 7-7 record to open the year after a summer of change. But even that word—change—doesn’t do it justice: The rotation that won them a championship two seasons ago was gutted.
Four of the top nine guys from last year’s rotation left via trades and free agency, and when combined with Jayson Tatum’s ruptured Achilles, that left Boston with four out of the nine: Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and Sam Hauser.
So, with Joe Mazzulla forced to overhaul the entire way of life in Celtics land, defense was the path he chose. And so far, it’s been successful.
White is still one of the league’s best on that side of the floor. He ranks seventh in the league in stocks (steals and blocks) per game at 2.8. Brown is still a tenacious on-ball threat, Hauser remains an underrated defensive glue guy, and even Neemias Queta, who is enjoying the first consistent minutes of his NBA career, has turned into one of the most valuable defenders in the league.
But there was still one role left to be filled. The defensive star-stopper. The guy who would take on the opposing team’s best players on a nightly basis. Last season, that was Brown, or Tatum, or even Jrue Holiday. But with Brown carrying an even heavier load on offense, the Celtics have turned elsewhere.
To a cast of misfits.
3 Celtics are taking on most important defensive role
Jordan Walsh, who played just 8.0 minutes per game through the first two seasons of his career, has earned 17.3. Josh Minott, who was left as an outcast in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ rotation, is getting 20.2. And Hugo Gonzalez, the No. 28 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft at just 19 years old, has played 12.4.
Heading into the season, all three fell firmly in the ‘question mark’ category. Walsh’s contract is still non-guaranteed. Minott has a team option next season. Gonzalez is a rookie. There was a chance none of them cracked the every-night rotation.
Yet through the first 14 games of the season, they have been three of the most important players contributing to the Celtics’ defensive success.
For Walsh, Sunday afternoon was a defining moment. He guarded LA Clippers star James Harden for 8:38 and held him to 3-of-7 shooting. Harden’s fourth-quarter outburst overshadowed Walsh’s performance, but through the first half, he was just 1-of-7 from the floor.
“I thought he was very good, and I thought he made some winning plays throughout the entire game,” said Mazzulla. “And that's the role. That's what you have to become as a guy that can guard anybody on any given night, and he's embracing that.”
Gonzalez’s moment came earlier in the year. He led a near-comeback at Madison Square Garden, picking up Jalen Brunson full-court, before starting and guarding Cade Cunningham one game later. Minott held Evan Mobley to 1-of-6 shooting in Boston’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
All three youngsters have had a chance to shine, and without them, the Celtics may not be in the position they are.
“We saw it the other night on [Tyrese] Maxey. Maxey is a tough cover, but I thought he did a great job just competing — and same thing with James [Harden],” Ty Lue said via Justin Turpin of WEEIThreerr. “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. I thought he did an outstanding job just trying to frustrate James, wear him down, and make him tired. He did a great job.”
Right now, Walsh is in the spotlight. He’s taken over the fifth starter spot alongside Pritchard, White, Brown, and Queta. And he’s done a phenomenal job guarding Harden, Maxey, Paolo Banchero, and others.
But Minott will have more chances. As will Gonzalez. And if those three can band together to form one singular star-stopper, the Celtics’ defense has a chance to remain elite.
“We need a guy like that [who’s] going to guard [the] best players night in and night out,” said Brown. “Whether it's Josh, whether it's Jordan, or Hugo, that role is needed on our team. So, I think Jordan is doing great right now.”