Earlier than the fourth quarter of the Pistons recreation, it regarded like Payton Pritchard is likely to be coming again to earth. Then Pritchard poured in 12 factors and three rebounds within the closing body. And Joe Mazzulla appreciated each minute of it.
“I believed he made big-time performs whether or not it was the offensive rebound, whether or not it was the play on the finish of the sport, or simply pushing the place. You recognize, he kinda simply has the power to influence the sport in several methods.”
A traditional misnomer is that Mazzulla Ball is just attempting to shoot as many three-point pictures as potential. Offensively, Mazzulla Ball is about creating the absolute best shot. It simply so occurs the Celtics have perhaps probably the most capturing expertise ever assembled on an NBA roster. You combine the capturing expertise with a bunch of nice shot-creators, and you find yourself with the very best three-point charge in NBA historical past.
The piece of Mazzulla Ball that generally will get missed is about dominating on the margins. Mazzulla’s Celtics are going to kill you from the three-point. There’s nothing that may be accomplished about that. However they’re additionally not going to show it over, rebound the ball, and this yr, get to the free-throw line. So even when the three-point pictures don’t fall, the Celtics have probably overwhelmed you in sufficient of the margins to win anyway, as evidenced by their 5-0 report in video games the place they shoot under 34% from three. Good luck beating that crew 4 out of seven occasions within the playoffs.
Because of this it is sensible for Mazzulla to gush about Pritchard’s potential to influence the sport exterior his capturing. Particularly his offensive rebounding.
“You noticed it offensive rebounding. You noticed it shot-making. He can simply influence the sport in so some ways.”
Three-point capturing can come and go; even Steph Curry can have a chilly evening or week or month from three-point vary. Nice gamers nonetheless influence the sport on these nights. Pritchard, regardless of being 6”1, in what I’m guessing are very tall sneakers, rebounds the heck out of the ball whereas sustaining an elite assist-turnover ratio. Pritchard is an elite offensive rebounder for his measurement and place. Over the previous 25 years, out of all gamers six-foot-two and underneath, Pritchard is sixth in offensive rebounding share behind solely Rajon Rondo, Sundiata Gaines, Bobby Jackson, Patrick Beverly, and Gary Payton II.
Accumulating clutch offensive rebounds isn’t a brand new phenomenon for Payton Pritchard. Pritchard has been doing this since he joined the Boston Celtics in 2020.
That is what he does.
While you mix Pritchard’s influence on the margins together with his explosive scoring potential, the Celtics are left with one of the crucial impactful bench gamers within the NBA.
