The Boston Celtics faced a difficult task on Monday night, taking on the Eastern Conference leaders, the Detroit Pistons. In a hard-fought battle where the lead changed hands 15 times, the Celtics ultimately couldn't slow down Cade Cunningham in the fourth quarter and lost 112-105.
There were certainly plenty of positive takeaways, including Derrick White and Jaylen Brown's individual brilliance, and the fact that the Celtics stuck in there despite shooting 25% from beyond the arc. It also made one thing painfully obvious. If Boston wants to make a run this season, it needs to add a fifth starter before the trade deadline.
Celtics Need to Prioritize Adding a 3-and-D Wing at the Trade Deadline
Head coach Joe Mazzulla has played musical chairs with the fifth starter spot all season. After using Sam Hauser and Josh Minott there, he has been playing Jordan Walsh in recent weeks, and this has largely paid dividends. Walsh has taken a big step forward and has emerged as a defensive stopper on the wing. Since perimeter defense is what the Celtics are primarily looking for in that spot, Walsh has been a good fit.
Against one of the best teams in the league, however, his shortcomings proved to be too much. Walsh is a limited offensive player that elite defenses can exploit. He can't do much else other than shoot open 3-pointers. While he has been making them this season, albeit at a low volume, he doesn't inject fear into opposing defenses.
On Monday night, Walsh wasn't particularly impactful on defense, either, struggling to stay in front of Cunningham. He committed four fouls in 17 minutes of action, and the Celtics were a-10 in those minutes.
Mazzulla gave Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez, and Josh Minott a chance as the primary point-of-attack defender and deployed a ton of zone coverages. The Pistons were still able to have an offensive rating of 119.1.
Once Jayson Tatum returns, the lack of solid 3-and-D wings on the roster obviously stops being a problem. Currently, it's not realistic to ask Brown or White to guard the opponent's best player on a nightly basis, given how large an offensive workload they carry. With Tatum back in the fold, however, the roles on both ends of the floor will make a little more sense.
If the Celtics want to compete in Tatum's absence, however, a perimeter defender who can do a little bit more on offense than the likes of Walsh and Gonzalez would give the Celtics a massive boost. That is obviously easier said than done, as teams generally don't want to give up good 3-and-D players, but it behooves the Celtics to at least try ahead of the February 5 trade deadline.