Payton Pritchard didn’t just answer Joe Mazzulla’s challenge against the Bulls. He answered it with the kind of sequence that can light up a bench and turn a routine second-quarter stretch into a full-on statement.
It started with Paul George missing a 30-footer after Chicago actually defended the possession well. Then George picked off a Josh Giddey pass on the next trip, only for the Bulls to leave him open in transition.
His shot barely spun out. That opened the door for Pritchard, who boxed out 6-foot-9 Matas Buzelis, tracked down the tipped rebound and finished at the rim while Buzelis ended up on the floor and sliding away from the play.
Pritchard turned toward the Celtics bench and flashed a stank face while his teammates hit him with the “too little” gesture. The building came alive. Then Giddey coughed it up again, tossing the ball straight to Derrick White, who found Pritchard in the same spot George had occupied 24 seconds earlier.
This time, Pritchard flexed and headed back to the bench, where Mazzulla met him with a hug and a few hard pats on the back.
“Joe challenged me,” Pritchard said after the easy win. “I feel like the first four games my defensive activity and my rebounding have been poor.
So I felt like coming out today … [he was] challenging me to step up in that area. I think the hug was for me doing that.
… So, we’ve been through a lot together, and it’s just great to keep it going.”
For a player as important as Pritchard, the word “challenge” might sound strange at first. He’s a former Sixth Man of the Year, and Boston already knows how much he matters.
But Mazzulla wasn’t asking for more scoring. He wanted more of the stuff that makes Pritchard a nuisance when he’s at his best.
“Just being active and being back to being a pest and creating opportunities for steals and just ball pressure,” Pritchard said of where he’d slipped. “… In the past I’ve been a good rebounder, but this year I haven’t.
Like I haven’t rebounded well, haven’t boxed that well. So there’s things I watch and just got to get back to that area that I’m really good at.”
That’s the edge of Pritchard’s game that can get overlooked. Sure, he can handle it, and he can shoot from deep enough to make defenses pay from way outside the arc.
But Boston doesn’t want him settling into just that lane. Neither does he.
“I think the sky’s the limit for him,” Mazzulla said. “I think he hasn’t completely tapped into the player that he can become, and that’s just being complete on both ends of the floor and not being defined by one thing. I think in tonight’s game, you saw the absolute best version of him.”
Mazzulla also pointed to the energy it takes to keep that level up.
“It takes a ton of energy, you’re not going to be able to do that every single night,” Mazzulla said. “But the sky’s the limit for him, and as we continue to grow as a team, and he continues to grow as a player, being a complete player on both ends of the floor really helps us take it to a different level.
So he’s got more in the tank. He’s a kid that can continue to get better and better.
I like pushing him. I like coaching him and love him like a brother.”
Pritchard didn’t sound bothered by the push. If anything, he sounded like a player who sees the demand as part of the deal.
“Pressure is a privilege,” Pritchard said. “It’s gonna make me better, and I’m gonna figure out how to be a complete player, and I’m gonna catch my stride in all those areas and just get better and better.
So obviously I’ve been through some struggles early on this season, and had some poor games, and honestly, just the defensive effort of rebounding has been poor, so cleaning up that area, and it just leads to more success offensively, and just being a complete player. So I appreciate Joe testing me and challenging me to be better because the team needs me to be better, and that’s what I want.
So it’s a good thing.”
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