LOS ANGELES — Removed from the Boston Celtics starting lineup for the first time since early in the season, Jordan Walsh said he needs to do more.

“I think just leaving a print on the game,” Walsh said. “I feel like the other team has to feel me. The other staff has to feel me. The other organization has to feel me. Every time I’m on the court, I’ve got to constantly make it hard for everybody else to kind of survive on the other team. I feel like I hadn’t been doing that. So, I’ve gotta make sure that I am doing that.”

Walsh started 20 straight games for the Celtics after joining the first unit Nov. 12. But he played only five minutes Thursday night during a win against the Sacramento Kings before getting benched at halftime. Joe Mazzulla, who started Sam Hauser in the second half of that game, decided to stick with Hauser in the first unit Saturday against the LA Clippers.

Walsh spoke to the media before it was revealed Hauser would take his place in the starting lineup. Still, based on Walsh’s comments, he might have known the move was coming.

“It was definitely a good spurt (in the starting lineup) for sure, but staying even keel is what’s more important,” Walsh said. “Never getting too high, never getting too low.”

“I’m no stranger to this, you know what I’m saying?” added Walsh, who spent most of his first two seasons on the bench. “I started where I had to always stay ready for my next opportunity. And if that’s the situation I’m in again now, that’s what I got to be ready for.”

After the win against Sacramento, Mazzulla said the choice to move away from Walsh at halftime was not because of anything he’s doing wrong.

“It’s just we can go to so many different things,” Mazzulla said. “I think you saw what Sam (Hauser) was able to do in the first half. And I think out of halftime, making a change can kind of throw a team off to start (the third quarter). And I think that’s one of the reasons we went on a run was (Neemias Queta’s) defense, and then, just kind of our offense was obviously different with Sam out there on the floor. So, it’s really just taking any advantage we can with the entire roster that we have and just trying to win segments of the game and kind of go on runs and catch the opponent off guard with different matchups and different opportunities.”

Walsh said the halftime benching showed him “that I need to step it up, basically.”

“I feel like if that was the case, I didn’t make my mark enough — or impactful enough — to stay out there,” Walsh said. “So, I’ve got to do more.”