With the Boston Celtics effectively entering a fluid rest protocol, the bench unit has been getting additional run. Payton Pritchard has been making the most of his additional opportunities, and he could extend his streak of stellar performances to five games when the Celtics face the Chicago Bulls tonight.
Boston Celtics 129 - Detroit Pistons 102
⭐️Payton Pritchard: 19 points, 8 assists and 3.8 rebounds on 51.6% shooting from 3-point range and 52.7% from the field — those are Pritchard’s averages over the last four games. He’s been electric. The three-point shooting was expected. However, his ability to drive the lane, create and finish through contact has been a surprising addition to his scoring repertoire.
His defense was a slight issue. The Pistons shot 7-of-9 when Pritchard was the primary defender on a shot attempt, giving them a 77.8% conversion rate. Still, Pritchard was solid in pressuring the ball, navigated screens with poise, and held his ground when cross-matched. Team will look to hunt him during the playoffs, but that won’t be anything new to him.
Oh, and we can’t forget his playmaking. Pritchard has become a valuable dibble penetrator, finding gaps in the defense as he forces them to rotate. His off-the-dribble creation has certainly improved; next on the agenda is spotting passes that are more than one pass away.
⭐️Jaylen Brown: Without Jayson Tatum in the rotation, Brown resumed his role as the team’s primary offensive option. He produced across all three levels, pressuring the Pistons rim at will. As I noted in my “10 Takeaways” for CelticsBlog earlier today, Brown has consistently found success when curling out of the corners via wide pin-downs — toward the paint or around the perimeter.
I don’t want to step on that article’s toes too much, but if you want a deep dive into Boston’s corner pin-down series, just let me know…I’m saving a lot of the playbook stuff for the offseason.
One thing I didn’t mention in that takeaways article was how much better Brown has become at creating his offense off the dribble. His handle is a lot tighter in space. Recently, he’s been forcing defenders to commit by planting their feet as they try to deal with his direction changes off the crossover. Once he know’s their weight has shifted, he’s blowing by them to attack the lane.
Brown is so good when stampede cutting and bully driving to the rim that his off-the-dribble game has seldom been praised this season. I wanted to ensure I tipped my cap to that improvement because it’s been a huge part of his overall offensive development throughout the season.
⭐️ Kristaps Porzingis: There's nothing surprising about Porzingis' inclusion on this list. I liked his screening actions and his operating in “keep” sequences—which I covered in my takeaways. Still, to go over it, here’s a good example of a “keep” action from last night’s game.
