Hey, you can only play the team who is scheduled.
For Payton Pritchard, the 4-8 Memphis Grizzlies without star Ja Morant presented the perfect chance to break a cold streak Wednesday night.
It was the second night of a back-to-back for both teams coming off road games. Memphis was also short Zach Edey, Ry Jermone, and Javon Small. The Celtics had just suffered an emotional loss. The Garden was primed for ugly basketball, but Pritchard put on his running shoes – and showed out in the Celtics’ 131-95 win with his best performance during an inconsistent start to the season.
Pritchard, who is coming off winning the John Havlicek Sixth Man of the Year award last season, has shown growing pains adjusting to a starting role. Even on nights when he’s looked more himself, against Detroit and New Orleans, he’s struggled to find the 3-point stroke that’s been his calling card. His best showing leading up to Wednesday night was a loss to Orlando last Friday, and it was followed by two sub-30% field goal games.
So, don’t feel like too big of a dork if you wondered, after those two games, whether it might make sense to rotate Anfernee Simons into Pritchard’s starting position - at least to see how that would look.
"I was very disappointed in myself these last two games," Pritchard said postgame. "You know, kind of down in the dumps a little bit, overthinking the last two games, every play, I just didn't feel like myself at all. So, going home last night, woke up this morning, hungry to attack this game."
Well, if Pritchard can reach even two-thirds of the level of attack he showed against Memphis when Boston faces other teams, expect a friskier Celtics than October showed.
After Jaylen Brown dished the ball to Pritchard a handful of minutes into the first quarter for an easy three, he was relatively quiet for the rest of his early stretch. His game started gathering momentum the next time he hit the parquet. He fed Neemias Queta for a crucial dunk to pull the Celtics away from Memphis as they closed in, then hit a wide-open three-pointer from the top of the key. After that, he reminded fans why he earned the nickname “Fast PP” in his younger days: with three minutes left in the half, he ran the fast break flawlessly to Brown for a layup, and closed things out with a coast-to-coast break layup and a +29 rating on the floor.
"It wasn't about scoring. It was, when I got the ball, I was going to push it as fast as possible, attacking, playing that way. I feel like when I'm playing that way, I'm at my best," Pritchard said.
His third quarter was even more impressive: he posted two second-chance three-pointers and a gorgeous turn-around buzzer beater against the shot clock.
This team is only going to work in Jayson Tatum’s absence if bonafide rotation players like Pritchard, Derrick White, and Sam Hauser can provide the offense to back up Brown. There have been too many nights where not just one of those guys disappears – a couple of them ghost.
But just as importantly, against Memphis, the offense ran like a well-oiled machine through Pritchard at point. They had a season-high 34 assists. Boston may well have benefited from the size match-ups the Grizzlies presented, (there are no seven-footers on this less talented basketball team, as was the case when Boston lost to the Jazz earlier this month). They definitely benefited from their dwindling point guard lineup.
Pritchard still handled his business, and created offense while maintain himself as a threat. He finished with nine assists in addition to 24 points, and a whopping career-high +42.
The Celtics can’t always count on him to be this good, just like they won’t often see teams as bad as the hobbled Grizzlies on Wednesday night. When the old phrase, “water finds its level,” though, Pritchard needed a performance like this one in the mix.