The Boston Celtics’ late-game execution woes have masked — or at least diminished — some of the more encouraging trends the team has produced through the first 12 games of the season.

Over the past week, perhaps nothing has been as notable as the rather unexpected emergence of third-year wing Jordan Walsh.

Walsh’s defensive potential has been evident ever since the Celtics snagged him with the 38th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. But he played sparingly on two championship-level teams, and it felt fair to suggest that the 2025-26 season was a bit of a make-or-break campaign, even if Walsh is still only 21 years old entering his third NBA season.

After logging three DNPs and playing sparingly through the early part of the new campaign, Walsh got an opportunity to reassert himself starting with last Wednesday’s visit from the Washington Wizards, and has basically made it hard for Joe Mazzulla to take him off the court. 

Something seemed to click against Washington for Walsh. He was relentless on the defensive glass. He brought a controlled chaos to the defensive side of the ball. The Celtics outscored the Wizards by 27 during his 24 minutes of floor time and it set the stage for Walsh to really showcase his defensive talents. 

That culminated Tuesday night in Philadelphia, where Mazzulla dispatched Walsh as the primary defender on 76ers superstar guard Tyrese Maxey, who averaged 33 points per game against Boston in the teams’ first two meetings this season.

With Walsh logging nearly 60 percent of the total matchup time, Maxey finished with his lowest scoring output of the season, generating 21 points on 5-of-17 shooting over 33:39. The Sixers escaped with a 102-100 triumph, but Walsh was an obvious silver lining with his inspired defensive play.

Here are four numbers that detail just how impressive Walsh has been in his recent minutes:

11.1 percent

That was Maxey’s shooting percentage when Walsh was the primary defender in Tuesday’s game. The NBA’s tracking data had Maxey finishing 1-for-9 with four points over 26.9 possessions and nearly six total minutes of matchup time with Walsh defending him.

Walsh was fantastic, including at the end of Tuesday’s game, helping to harass Maxey into a late miss in a tie game. Alas, the Celtics overreacted to helping near Maxey and that allowed Kelly Oubre Jr. to swoop in for a way-too-easy put-back that proved to be the difference in the game.

102.5

That is Boston’s defensive rating in Walsh’s 122 minutes of floor time this season. Not only is it second-best on the team among regulars, trailing only Neemias Queta (101.2), but Boston’s defensive rating is 12.4 points per 100 possessions lower during Walsh’s floor time compared to when he’s on the bench.

For context, the Oklahoma City Thunder top the NBA with a defensive rating of 104.1. The Celtics sit 13th at 113.4 overall.

Drill down to Boston’s last four games and Boston’s defensive rating drops to 97.9 in Walsh’s 98 minutes of floor time. It spiked to a team-worst 123.4 in his 94 minutes on the bench. 

9.1 percent

That’s how far below their expected field goal percentage that Walsh has held his defensive assignments over the last four games. Opponents are shooting a meager 37.5 percent against him on 10 shot attempts per game, per the NBA’s defensive dashboard. That’s the best differential on the team in that span. 

That number especially pops when you consider the recent defensive assignments like Maxey, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. 

Here’s a look at how Walsh has fared against his top defensive assignments this season, per NBA defensive tracking data:

The Celtics have felt as comfortable letting Walsh joust with bigger, offensive-minded forwards like Banchero and Wagner, as they do in letting him chase around speedy and athletic guards like Maxey and VJ Edgecombe. It’s a defensive luxury to have a player like Walsh who the Celtics can trust against all sorts of opposing scorers.

16.8 percent

That’s the percentage of opponent missed field goal attempts that Walsh has rebounded this season, which ranks in the 98th percentile among all wings, per Cleaning the Glass data. The only players better in that category this season: Josh Hart (20.7) and Brandon Ingram (16.9).

The Celtics are simply a better rebounding team when Walsh is on the floor. The Celtics grab 71.8 percent of all defensive rebounds during his court time, the best individual mark on the team. Their overall rebound rate of 53.5 percent with Walsh on the floor would be a top-five mark in the NBA if maintained, and would slot the team ahead of Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs. 

All of Walsh’s defensive metrics are elite for the early portion of the season. He’s blocking 1.6 percent of shots when he’s on the floor, which ranks in the 95th percentile among all wings, per Cleaning the Glass data. He generates steals on 3 percent of plays when he’s on the court, which ranks in the 92nd percentile among wings.

Walsh rebounds 44.4 percent of all missed free throw attempts when he’s on the court, which ranks in the 99th percentile. Only teammate Jaylen Brown has a higher mark in the league among wings.