Why Joe Mazzulla made sure to highlight Payton Pritchard after Game 2
When Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla arrived at the podium Sunday night after his team's 105-98 win in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, the first question from the media was about Jayson Tatum. Mazzulla, however, felt the need to talk about a different player first.
"Before that, I think the play of the game that can't go unnoticed, the humility of our team, is Payton's shot at the end of the quarter," Mazzulla said.
He was referencing Payton Pritchard's 34-foot heave that beat the buzzer at the end of the third quarter, a shot that put Boston up nine heading to the fourth and ended a 7-0 Dallas run that had started to swing momentum in the Mavericks' favor.
"You see guys around the league pass up on that shot or fake like they want to take it so that their numbers don't get messed up," Mazzulla continued. "He takes pride in taking that, and that's winning basketball. So, that's first and foremost. That should have been the first question, is the ability of everybody on our team to do different things that lead to winning."
Setting aside the fact that it's not Mazzulla's job to decide what reporters ask him, it's understandable that he wanted to start with Pritchard.
That was a huge shot. And while there is an element of luck in hitting any shot from that distance, it wasn't pure luck by any means. Pritchard has hit a few of those quarter-ending heaves this season, because he practices it and wants to take them.
"He has the humility and selflessness to not care if he misses it," Mazzulla said. "He practices it and has an understanding of how a shot like that can impact the end of a quarter and can impact the run that a team makes. They went on a run to end the quarter, and I thought that shot kind of gave us a little bit of poise and a little bit of momentum that we needed heading into the fourth quarter. That was big-time."
It wasn't random either. Pritchard was subbed in for Jrue Holiday with three seconds left in the quarter specifically for that play. According to Jaylen Brown, Pritchard actually stepped up and checked himself in, just about calling his shot.
"Man, that was incredible. And I heard he like checked himself in the game, too," Brown said. "He's been hitting those shots all season long. If anybody's been paying attention to it, he's made at least three or four. So, tonight he made it in the biggest of moments, but it's just an example of what we do and have been doing all season long."
Brown went on to say that Pritchard's shot bailed out the rest of the team, including himself, after some poor play late in the third quarter.
"How you finish quarters is big, and we didn't finish that quarter great," Brown said. "We got a lot of open looks. We gave up some, had some bad fouls. One of them was mine, fouled Luka [Doncic] on a back cut. And then me and JT had a miscommunication on a switch and Luka got a three. Gotta finish quarters better, but Payton checks himself in the game and covers us a little bit by hitting the big-time shot."
That wound up being the only basket Pritchard made in Game 2, and it was one of just two shots that he took. As Mazzulla noted, it was Pritchard's way of doing "different things that lead to winning."
What the Celtics needed most from Pritchard on Sunday was for him to be the buzzer-beating heave guy, and he was ready for the challenge.
As Derrick White put it after the game, "That's what Payton Pritchard does."
