Payton Pritchard’s scare Wednesday night turned into a quick turnaround, and the Celtics guard was back on the floor Friday in Charlotte after a right eye abrasion briefly knocked his vision off track.
Pritchard said the issue was immediate and obvious once it happened.
“It probably hurt,” Pritchard said (YouTube link). “I just couldn’t see, so my vision was very like, I don’t know how to explain it, but couldn’t track the rim when it happened and stuff.
So I knew I had a problem and I had to come out. It just wasn’t coming back.
Thankfully, it came back.”
The good news for Boston is that the eye issue cleared up in time for him to play, and it kept him from adding to a remarkably short list of missed games. Pritchard has sat out only five games over the past three seasons. He was also on the injury report earlier this week with a right shoulder contusion, though he said that’s nothing out of the ordinary for an NBA season and that he feels fine.
He also brushed off any notion that the Celtics are already close to their ceiling.
“I don’t think we’ve hit peak form at all,” Pritchard said. “We’re record-wise solid, but we’re just sitting the surface.”
Jayson Tatum’s workload is being managed, too. He sat Wednesday’s game at Milwaukee, and those occasional nights off are expected to keep coming after he missed most of last season while recovering from an Achilles tear. Tatum, who scored 34 points Friday night, said he feels closer to his pre-injury level.
“I’m getting there,” he said. “How I felt before I got hurt - I felt really, really good.
I don’t feel like too far. I’ve still only played less than 40 games since I’ve been back.
Still in the ‘rehab phase’ of return-to-play. I still got a little ways to go to get back to feeling the best I’ve ever felt.
We’re going to get there, though.”
Elsewhere in Boston, Christopher L. Gasper of The Boston Globe floated an alternate timeline in which the Bucks agreed to the Celtics’ offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
In that version of events, the Jaylen Brown-Jayson Tatum tension might never have developed. Gasper wrote that Brown would have been willing to be dealt for a star like Antetokounmpo, and he could have become the centerpiece of a rebuilding Milwaukee team that had no real path to challenging Boston for the conference crown.
Instead, Brown went to the Sixers, and the first regular-season meeting between Brown and Tatum is set for Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
And in a mailbag column, Terada raised the possibility that Paul George could pass on his $56.6MM player option next summer and instead take a shorter extension at a lower annual number. Terada also pointed out that remaining in Boston would still give George a strong shot at winning a title before his career ends.
In Other News...
Luka Garza Is Forcing A Celtics Rotation Decision
Luka Garza has quietly given the Celtics something they did not necessarily expect this early in the season: a reserve big who can stretch the floor and hold his own enough to stay on the court. In limited minutes, he has looked efficient as a scorer, knocked down threes at a strong clip and shown enough defensive improvement to make him more than just a situational option.
For a team always balancing depth, spacing and frontcourt fit, that kind of early production can force a real rotation conversation. Garza has done enough to make a case for a larger role, and the Celtics now have to decide whether what he has shown is a small-sample spark or the start of something they should lean into more often. [Read more 🡒]
Derrick White Just Gave The Celtics What They Need Most
Derrick White gave the Celtics a needed lift in the win over the Hornets, blending the kind of joy and aggression that has made him such an important part of Bostons rotation. He finished with 18 points, knocked down four 3-pointers, and added five assists, four rebounds and a steal while looking every bit like the steady two-way presence the Celtics lean on when the offense needs a jolt.
Whites value goes well beyond the box score, though his shot-making was especially welcome after an uneven start to the season from deep. Boston has long counted on him as both a playmaker and a defender, and nights like this are a reminder of why his game fits so cleanly alongside the teams bigger stars. [Read more 🡒]
Former Celtics Big Is Suddenly Becoming A Real Rotation Factor Elsewhere
Charles Bassey has gone from a brief Celtics stop to carving out a real role in Golden State, where his energy and physicality have made him a useful rotation piece. The big man has already appeared in seven of the Warriors nine games, giving them a steady interior presence while scoring efficiently, rebounding and protecting the rim in limited minutes.
The early returns have been hard to ignore for a Warriors team that has clearly benefited from his presence. Bassey is shooting 65.5% from the field and averaging seven points, 5.3 rebounds and a block per game, but the bigger sign of his value has been how much better Golden State has looked with him on the floor, a reminder that some frontcourt fits take a little time to surface. [Read more 🡒]