INSTANT REACTION: Celtics bench sparks big win over Magic

INSTANT REACTION: Celtics bench sparks big win over Magic

27 points. Oh, now he drives. Kick it out. Pritchard. Walsh from the corner. Yes, sir. Jordan Walls. Huge shot. Welcome to the big time. 27. [Applause] Jordan Walls with a massive clutch three. Gave the Celtics a five-point lead at the time. They get the win 111 to 107. Your final to move to 5 and6 on the season. Tom Giles, Chris Forsber, Eddie House with you. Jordan Walsh, two big threes in this one. They got contributions all over the place already. You know, you just saw on the broadcast that it was Luca Garza who was named the player of the game. Eddie, your thoughts on the Celtics and their ability to pull a win out tonight. Thought that everybody, a bunch of guys stepped up when they needed to. Think about Simons. He stepped up early in the first half when they needed that, right? Gave him a uh gave him a huge boost. Hugo came in, played great defense, gave him a huge boost. Jordan Walsh, I thought he played great defense, got a bad whistle. He was being physical with Paulo. I know Paulo had the 14 in the fourth quarter, but he was be being physical. Hit the big shot because the basketball guys rewarded him for playing defense the way he was. Garza was impeccable tonight. He was all over the place, always around the basket. And then Derek White knocking down a big shot on the wing as well. So, I thought everybody contributed and this was a a total team win. Think about it like Anthony Simons had one of the wildest scoring quarters in Celtics history and it was probably like the fifth most eventful thing in this game because so many contributions from that bench. I did not expect to see Luca Garza and Jordan Walsh as your crunchtime lineup against a quality opponent like the Orlando Magic, but they earned that right with the way that they played. And you could have thrown Ugo in there and Min came in for some defensive versatility, but it’s clear like when you came into the season, one of the biggest concerns was would the Celtics be able to lean on their depth? And there’s still a whole bunch of strides to be able to do that on a nightto-ight basis. But given the ups and downs that all these guys have already experienced through 11 games, it’s really endearing to watch how someone like Walsh can come in and just kind of figures it out the last few games playing with with energy, going for rebounds, defending as best he can with with the the a clear ability that he has and then to be rewarded with the three-point shot. And you got a guy like Garza again who like gets taken out of the the big man rotation a little bit, minutes are down, but comes in and just gives you energy. Turns out he’s the best Luca in the league and he was tonight for the Celtics anyways with those 16 points for Luca Garza. Uh again, the Celtics getting the win here. Jordan Walsh with that huge clutch three. Standing by with Cayla Burton back in Orlando. Jordan, a huge performance by not only you but the whole bench entirely. 50 bench points. You hit a dagger three ice in your veins. What was going through your mind in that moment? Um I felt like, you know, throughout the course of the game my man would leave me and go help. So, I knew that, you know, going through the game, if I slowed down, was ready for my shot, that it would eventually come. If not, crash, try to get offensive rebound. When you see guys like, what do you make of Jordan in this game here tonight? He’s the king of lockdown. He can guard anybody, the bigs, the littles, the wings, it don’t matter. Call Jordan. He’s your guy. That’s an ad. That’s an ad. Not only did X just mention the defensive side, you know, we’re talking about that big three, but just seeing the other guys on this bench. I mentioned those 50 points. Having Lucas step up, especially when Namish Kada goes out with those fouls. What how are you able as a bench unit to stay ready and lock in in those moments? Um, you know, it’s it’s through preparation. Um, preparing is, you know, way before the game, the days before the game, you know, every day everybody comes in here. Me and Luca, we work out every morning. We’re in the gym shooting every morning waiting for our opportunity to come. And when it came, we maximized it. You know, shout out to him, shout out to everybody else. Hugo came in, played big. So, you know, those guys always staying ready, always being prepared is great. 19 lead changes in this game. How were you guys able to stay relentless all the way up into the half, all the way up into the end and come out on top? I mean, we knew that, you know, Orlando’s a physical team. You know, we know that that first punch is coming. It just depends. Are we going to throw it? And if they throw it, are we going to come back and hit harder? Joe has been on you throughout this whole season, ever since you became a Celtic. When you see him, you know, get up for you and and you are able to lock in on key moments. What goes through you mentally as a player? Um, I mean I I feel great, you know, the support from, not just him, but everybody, you know, DY coming and dabbing me up, you know, JT watching him dab me up, you know, all that stuff fuels it fuels the confidence, it feels the energy that I have that I can bring. It makes you want to fight for those guys even more. Congrats, Jordan. You deserve this one. Thank you so much, guys. Back to you. All right, thanks so much, Kayla. We got Drew Scal joining us now as they just called the game here for this 111 107 win and what was a very entertaining game, entertaining fourth quarter. Yeah, for sure, Giles. I mean, we said this down the stretch, but for a game in, you know, early mid November, you can’t ask for much more in terms of intensity and competitiveness. And I think you just got to feel really happy for Jordan Walsh. He’s he’s 21 years old. His first two years in the league. Playing time has been stop and start if he if he even gets on the floor at all. And all of a sudden, he’s playing crunch time in this game. Scout, because of his defense. I mean, he is so active with his off hand, knocking the ball away. Guys have a hard time and they don’t feel comfortable when they’re going against him. You earn your your minutes on the defensive end and then you get those opportunities. He’s also the one that made the shuffle pass over to Luca Garza for the dunk and then he makes the big time three. Also, don’t forget Jaylen Brown’s getting double team. He catches, swings it. Derek White big time three. So, not only was he doing the big things that we saw, he’s also doing all kinds of little things that help the Celtics win. And I loved what he said to Kayla in the post game, which is, you know, he knew they were going to help off of him, which they’ve been doing all game. Maybe he feels like that’s disrespect just like how Scal said he didn’t think Luca Garza could dunk in this game. It’s not disrespectful. Oh, it’s a D Ray. My friend Diz Ray needs new specs. I just never seen him dunk before. I watched him. He comes down the lane. I’m like, I’m not sure he can dunk. And he dunked. Well, he dunked today and he had a massive game. Seven for eight from the floor, 16 points for Luca, eight rebounds. He’s a plus nine. It’s just hard to imagine anybody playing harder than Luca Garz. Yeah, he he made a lot of things happen. He’s in the right location. He sets good screens. Knows how to roll out. Good hands, good finisher. But we also, we got to talk about Anthony Simons. This thing was looking bleak. The Magic were punking us. All of a sudden, Joe calls timeout. A little bit later, Anthony Simons comes in and he knocks down a big three and then he gets it going. 25 points in the first half. The bench today across the board. Ugo Gonzalez with the big three. Every one of those guys contributed and that’s nice when you can do that. You go on the road, you’re playing a tough opponent, a tough physical opponent. Joe Missoula let those guys rock out and they earned their time today. But I think just in general across the board, the bench is what helped us win this game. No doubt. It started with Anthony Simons in the first half and then everybody else came with them in the second half. And you mentioned Ugo, he’s a team high plus 19 in the box scoring in just 12 and a half minutes of action. So Jiles, everyone came to the party today. I think that was the most fun we’ve had calling a game all year probably. I I would say on the road this situation probably the best win of the year especially responding the way that they did after getting punked for the first like I would say eight minutes. Yeah. And Scall’s going back to Disney tonight so we can wrap up the weekend in style. And get the ears, man. Get those ears going.

The Postgame Live crew breaks down an impressive performance from the C’s as they earn a much-needed win in Orlando