Perhaps “The Garbage Man” isn’t flattering to the 21-year-old Walsh, but it’s actually a compliment as he has flourished over the past few weeks doing the dirty work for a Celtics team that is establishing itself as a contender in the Eastern Conference. He had the first double-double of his career in Sunday’s 117-115 win over the Cavaliers, including a tough game that not only got the Celtics two free throws, but impressed coach Joe Mazzulla.
With the Celtics leading 92–88 after leading by as many as 21 in the fourth quarter, Anfernee Simmons fired an elbow 3-pointer that passed to Cleveland’s De’Andre Hunter, who caught the ball in front of a pursuing Walsh. Instead of relenting, Walsh caught an opening and stripped the ball from Hunter, then attacked the rim, forcing Donovan Mitchell to foul to prevent an easy layup.
An empty possession turned into two free throws and a 6-point lead. It was a play that could be overlooked by casual fans but was noticed by those in the locker room, thus earning him the nickname “Garbage Man”.
“The game was taking the ball from (Hunter) and drawing the foul,” Mazzulla said, smiling. “Completely understanding what the role should be every night, and that’s a hard thing. But tonight, I thought you saw the best version of him on both ends of the floor. And he can be like that every night, and he’s learning it, but he’s the Jordan we need. If we want to get to a different level this year, he’s got to keep working. But tonight was a perfect example of him being at his best on both ends of the floor. But I thought it was the play.” That one was different because it wasn’t a jump ball, he just took it from him and got back to the free throw line.
In eight games as a starter, Walsh averaged 6.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 25 minutes. The Celtics first used Josh Minot to fill that 3-and-D role, but Mazzulla decided to give Walsh another chance during last month’s two-game series with Orlando, and he hit a key 3-pointer in a Nov. 9 win.
Mazzulla isn’t asking Walsh to score. He is asking her to do everything.
There were times Sunday when the Cavaliers didn’t guard Walsh in the halfcourt offense because they didn’t view him as a threat, but when the defense focused on Jaylen Brown they started back-cutting for layups. Walsh is also asked to guard the opposing team’s best player, grab key rebounds, and show passion and composure.
“Obviously starting eight games in a row is a layer of that (confidence),” Walsh said. “Just seeing people believe in me, how much people trust me, tell me to shoot it, tell me to guard the best player, tell me when I play great defense, I think all of those things are building confidence.”
When asked about the Hunter theft, the baby-faced Walsh smiled.
“Yeah, I stole that,” he said. “I saw the ball slow and I went for the jump ball. I held it for a second and they didn’t say jump ball. And really, just let me get that (ball)…it’s weird how that happened.”
Walsh’s next task is to master the art of making winning plays, whatever that may be. The steal from Hunter was a prime example of what Mazzulla wants from Walsh – getting extra possessions or getting defensive stops, or shifting defenses when he becomes an offensive threat. It’s been a process since Walsh is less than four years removed from high school.
“I think there’s guys like (Brown) that can go out there and find theirs, guys like Payton (Pritchard) that can go out there and find theirs,” Walsh said. “And amidst the chaos we have to find someone to pick up the pieces and try to be the glue guy, put everything together.”
Walsh paused again.
“Not a trash guy, and I was gonna say this too. I’ve got to find a way around it, definitely not a trash guy. I’ve got to find those pockets to impact the game. When JB and Peyton are shooting those shots someone needs to get the rebound. It’s either going to be them or it’s going to be us.”
“Why shouldn’t I make this?”
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. chase him @GwashburnGlobe,
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