It's been cool to see Jordan Walsh further re-assert himself for the Boston Celtics after he was in the doghouse for a time. Ever since the Celtics started their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, it's become abundantly clear why he should be getting more minutes: his elite defense on Tyrese Maxey.
That has only become more and more apparent as the series has gone on. In Boston's gritty Game 3 win, Walsh was clearly the best defender, as Maxey shot one-for-five from the floor when he got the assignment on the Sixers star.
And no, it's not like Maxey, an efficient scorer, just coincidentally went cold when Walsh was on him. He went cold because Walsh was on him.
the 76ers shot 1/7 when defended by Jordan Walsh in Game 3. Celtics were +18 with him on the floor. pic.twitter.com/TqvwOsuwkA
— Celtics Performances (@BestOfCeltics0) April 26, 2026
Now, to be fair, Derrick White has gotten the assignment to blanket Maxey as well, and he's done quite well with it, only for it to be overshadowed by his shooting struggles. Boston's primary strategy against Philadelphia can be summed up pretty easily: make any non-Maxey Sixer beat them.
And that's precisely why Walsh should play more. He and White have done an excellent job taking Maxey out of the equation. Playing both takes the Sixers out of their element, so the more minutes Walsh plays, the likelier Boston is to win this series.
But Walsh getting more playing time means someone gets less
Walsh playing more means someone else's minutes will get slashed. It's hard to pinpoint who exactly that should be. A fair argument would point to perhaps Sam Hauser, but Hauser keeps the Sixers' defense honest because he is one of the league's best snipers. Plus, he already isn't playing all that much in this series.
Another option is to go small-ball full-time with Jayson Tatum at the five. Vucevic has been the Celtics' best big, but that's mostly been by default, as Neemias Queta's effectiveness has been greatly diminished in this series and Luka Garza has not made himself stand out.
If there's one team where that strategy would be the most effective, it would be the Sixers. With Joel Embiid out for who knows how long, their best bigs are Andre Drummond and Adem Bona. They may not necessarily run small-ball all the time, but if there's a frontcourt where, on paper, Boston would take advantage like that, it would be against Philadelphia.
The problem really is that the Celtics have a little too much of a good thing with their wing rotation. Walsh isn't the only one who deserves more time, as Baylor Scheierman has also been pretty awesome in the limited minutes Boston has given him.
Walsh's biggest quality makes him an asset on only one end of the floor, but it might be strong enough that it's worth changing the formula.
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