How Payton Pritchard’s instant offense helped lift Celtics to Game 1 win
If you happened to be in the bathroom or at the concession stand when Payton Pritchard checked into Sunday s Celtics battle odds are you missed quite a bit It took Pritchard who subbed in late in the first quarter just seconds to hit his first -pointer Three possessions later he was fouled on a -point attempt and made all three free throws Twenty seconds after that he drained a three in transition after a Kristaps Porzingis steal Three minutes nine points Pritchard added a highlight-reel layup shortly thereafter utilizing selected nifty post moves to slither past Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony and later hit back-to-back triples early in the fourth quarter to help Boston pull away in Championship of its first-round playoff series The Celtics bench standout finished with points all in his first minutes of floor time in the - success at TD Garden Payton being Payton Celtics guard Jrue Holiday disclosed I think when he first came out he had a quick points in five minutes crazy I think just Payton being Payton taking the opportunity Payton is also a gamer as everybody here sees Any opportunity he gets to put the ball in the basket he does it But what makes him special is what he does on the defensive end picking up anybody full-court just being a dog hounding whoever is in front of him Related Articles How Jrue Holiday put Celtics on his back in Championship win over Magic Jayson Tatum explains injury scare after Celtics Tournament win over Magic Derrick White powers Celtics past Magic as Boston takes Encounter Celtics-Magic preview How Boston Orlando match up in playoff series Jaylen Brown enters Celtics-Magic playoff series with no limitations Head coach Joe Mazzulla also praised Pritchard s work on defense saying the undersized guard was good defensively as he was offensively in the win His instant offense though was vital for Boston to offset comparatively quiet outings from the Celtics headliners Jayson Tatum -for- points and Jaylen Brown -for- points both were held below points and Porzingis had his lowest-scoring battle of the season managing just five points on -for- shooting That trio went -for- from -point range including a -for- showing by Tatum But Derrick White points -for- from three and Pritchard provided more than enough point production for the defending champions who pulled away in the second half after trailing by one at halftime Pritchard went -for- from the field and -for- from three while outscoring Orlando s bench by himself I think we did a very good job on those guys Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley reported of All-Stars Tatum and Brown Made it tough on them made it tough for them to get easy shots They had a couple blow-bys to the rim but essentially it was the Derrick Whites of the world and the Payton Pritchards coming off the bench for Two guys that you don t necessarily account for coming up with points I think we ve got to do a better job there After Holiday fueled a stellar third quarter for Boston with his timely scoring and stingy defense on Orlando stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner White and Pritchard essentially put the battle away early in the fourth White opened the quarter with his sixth -pointer of the encounter and Pritchard followed with a steal which led to a transition layup by White Pritchard then buried threes on consecutive Celtics possessions to put Boston up Pritchard he hit particular big threes that hurt stated Banchero who scored a game-high points in a losing effort White Pritchard and Holiday went a combined -for- from beyond the arc against an Orlando defense that allowed just made threes per contest during the regular season the lowest mark in the NBA They do have two main guys but it s really the other guys that kill you Banchero commented I think we just have to do a better job of getting those guys off the line because they really kill you from three Pritchard four threes Derrick White seven threes Jrue Holiday three threes That s the contest right there You do a good job on the main guys but several of the role guys on the wings they kill you So we ve got to do a better job of taking them away After the encounter the NBA communicated Pritchard as one of the three finalists for NBA Sixth Man of the Year which he s widely expected to win after leading the league in off-the-bench scoring this season The fifth-year pro set career highs in nearly every statistical category during a breakout campaign averaging points per championship while shooting from three and expanding his repertoire as a three-level scorer That s another dog you know what I mean Brown explained He s been showing that all year with his mentality and his mindset His mentality has been like that all season long so when he gets in the championship it s no different Championship was an example of what he s been doing all season long
