Joe Mazzulla’s view of the Celtics’ starting lineup is hard to argue with. The coach is right that who opens the game matters a lot less than how the minutes actually get distributed. Jordan Walsh was a good example in game one: he started, played 13 minutes, began each half, and then barely factored beyond that while the closing group shifted around him.
But that approach has a real complication, and it showed up with Payton Pritchard.
Pritchard is one of the most debated names on this roster when it comes to the starting five, but there’s no real dispute about his importance. He’s clearly one of the Celtics’ best three or four players and maybe their second-most important offensive piece.
Even so, Boston has kept leaning on the same sixth-man setup that worked before. It made sense in the preseason and in the opener, where the idea was to keep one of Pritchard or Derrick White on the floor at all times and let Pritchard bring juice to the bench group.
The issue is that Pritchard has simply grown past that role.
When he comes off the bench, the math starts working against Boston. In game one, he entered early and was one of the first subs in, but that still left him sitting for roughly five or six minutes at the start of each half.
That cuts into the total in a way that’s hard to ignore. If he’s down to 18 or 19 available minutes in each half, the only way to push him well beyond 30 is to run him almost nonstop, and that would be asking too much.
That showed up in the opener, where he finished with 27 minutes and was missing during stretches when the offense bogged down.
There’s another layer here, too: starting him would give Boston more chances to use him with its top talent. Pritchard sharing the floor with Jayson Tatum and Paul George should create serious problems for opponents, but against the Pistons, that trio was only together for 8 minutes. That number just isn’t enough.
Maybe this is being treated as a regular-season management tool, maybe it’s about getting ready for the playoffs. Either way, the current setup doesn’t seem to maximize Pritchard or the team around him. For all the usual skepticism about the value of starting versus coming off the bench, this feels like the one case where Boston almost has to make the change.
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Celtics Home Opener Could Twist The Knife For Knicks Fans
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Robinson has already made it clear he wants a better showing the next time he steps on the floor, adding another layer to a matchup that already carries plenty of history. For the Knicks, the pressure is not only about one game but also about contract uncertainty around key pieces and the sense that the center position has not been the same since Robinson moved on. [Read more 🡒]