Payton Pritchard was supposed to be one of the early stories of the Celtics’ season. Through two games, that breakout still hasn’t shown up.
All offseason, the talk around Boston was that Pritchard would be stepping into a much larger offensive role. The expectation was that he’d become a nightly presence and maybe even grow into the No. 2 option behind Jayson Tatum.
That idea made plenty of sense after he looked underused in the playoff loss, then signed a fresh contract extension with Jaylen Brown traded away. This felt like the moment for him to carry more.
Instead, the first two games have looked an awful lot like last season.
Pritchard played fine on opening day, but the bigger chance to assert himself never really arrived. In the loss to Detroit, he logged just 27 minutes and took 9 shots, while the Celtics watched a huge lead slip away. That seemed like the kind of game where his role could be pushed upward immediately.
It didn’t happen Friday night, either. He did get a small increase to 30 minutes and stayed in his bench role, and he did finish tied for the team lead at plus-8 in his time on the floor.
But the box score told the real story: 4 points on 1-for-5 shooting, with his lone basket coming from 3-point range. He was 1-for-3 from deep and 1-for-2 at the line, while adding 4 assists, 1 rebound and no steals.
That’s not the level Boston needs from him.
The Celtics got enough to win, but the offense still looked too dependent on Tatum. He carried the night with 36 points, including 25 in the second half, while the team finished with just 107 points. Paul George had 15 points on 6-for-15 shooting, Derrick White added 12 points on 5-for-11, and Neemias Queta led the bench with 15 points on 4-for-8.
Even with that support, the Celtics still leaned on Tatum to drag them through a dogfight. That can happen when you have a superstar who can take over a game like this, but it shouldn’t be the default plan.
Boston needs a second creator, a playmaker, and a shot-maker who can ease the burden on Tatum. That role is supposed to belong to Pritchard.
So far, though, he’s looked like an afterthought. Maybe it’s just a strange two-game sample.
Maybe the numbers and minutes will normalize soon enough. But after what the Celtics seemed to be promising all summer, this start has been a disappointment, and it needs to turn around.
In Other News...
Celtics Just Exposed A Knicks Problem Fans Know Too Well
The Knicks opened their season with a pair of losses, first to the 76ers and then to the Celtics, and the second defeat laid bare a familiar issue for New York. Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby gave the Knicks solid stretches, but the offense never settled in, and the team spent too much of the night fighting its own mistakes instead of controlling the tempo.
Mikal Bridges early offensive slump has only made the margin for error thinner, especially when the Knicks are already struggling to play with urgency. Boston took advantage of those empty possessions and unsteady stretches, turning New Yorks inconsistency into the kind of game that leaves the Knicks searching for answers before the season has even really begun. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Got The Win They Needed And Sparked A Rotation Debate
Boston got the kind of early-season win it needed, edging the Knicks in a game that carried a little extra weight for both sides after each was trying to avoid an 0-2 start. Jayson Tatum was central to the outcome, but the more interesting wrinkle for the Celtics came from the middle of the rotation, where Neemias Queta made his presence felt in a tight, physical matchup that never really loosened until late.
Quetas impact in the third quarter helped Boston seize momentum, giving the Celtics a different look in the frontcourt and adding energy on the glass and around the rim when the game was hanging in the balance. On the other side, Mitchell Robinson never found a steady rhythm for New York as foul trouble and an uneven outing limited his influence, and that contrast is likely to fuel the rotation conversation coming out of a win Boston badly needed. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Escaped A Scare After One Knicks Reserve Caught Fire
The Celtics finally got into the win column, but it took a real fight to do it in a 107-103 victory over the Knicks at TD Garden. Boston had enough answers in the end, yet New York kept hanging around for much of the night thanks in large part to Deuce McBride, who gave the Celtics all kinds of trouble with his shot-making off the bench and helped keep the game tight deep into the fourth quarter.
Bostons late-game edge still showed up when it mattered most, with Jayson Tatum steadying the offense as the margin shrank. The Celtics needed those baskets to protect a lead that never felt fully safe, and the scare served as an early reminder that even a home opener against a division foe can turn into a grind before the final horn. [Read more 🡒]