Payton Pritchard catches fire as Celtics beat Bulls, give themselves a Cup chance: 9 takeaways
Pritchard finished 10-for-16 from the field (7-for-11 from three) with seven rebounds on Friday.
Payton Pritchard ignited late and, along with Jayson Tatum, helped lead the Celtics to a 138-129 victory over the Bulls on Friday.
Here are the takeaways.
Payton Pritchard went crazy in the fourth quarter.
We may be watching something special develop as Pritchard’s breakout season continues.
Between the 10:12 mark and the 9:04 mark in the fourth quarter, Payton Pritchard scored eight of his 29 points, burying two deep 3-pointers and a tough layup to pull the Celtics back from a four-point deficit. After a Jaylen Brown dunk that requires its own takeaway below, Pritchard went through the exact same sequence – two deep 3-pointers and another layup (followed by one more 3-pointer for good measure). Pritchard finished with 16 in the quarter and was integral as the Celtics put a little distance between themselves and the Bulls. He finished 10-for-16 from the field (7-for-11 from three) with seven rebounds, four of which were offensive.
Pritchard’s ascendance into his current role as the Celtics’ top microwave scorer off the bench is a really big deal for a team that is going to need affordable contracts for really good players in the next few years. His all-around ability to score in massive bunches, shoot from anywhere, distribute, play plenty of defense and even rebound for good measure makes him not only a useful player off the bench for a contender, but also a player to keep an eye on from a team-building perspective in a future that might be a little less distant than Celtics fans would like to think.
The Celtics did not advance in the NBA Cup (but they aren’t eliminated).
The Celtics needed a host of factors to go their way to advance on Friday, which didn’t happen. They did, however, give themselves a fighting chance, and they might have improved their odds even more in the closing seconds.
With the win, the Celtics sent the Hawks through as winners of Group C – a deserved outcome given that the Hawks beat both the Celtics and, with an impressive 117-101 victory on Friday, the Cavaliers.
The Celtics closed group play with a 3-1 record and a point differential of +24.
The simplest way for them to reach the NBA Cup is now if the Magic beat the Knicks on Tuesday, and if the Bucks beat the Pistons by at least six. Alternatively, if the Pistons beat the Bucks by at least seven, the Celtics also win the wildcard.
And yes, that does mean that if the Pistons or Bucks lose by less than those totals, they will be the wildcard.
If your head isn’t spinning, you might have a future in some kind of math.
Joe Mazzulla and Billy Donovan Might Not Be Best Friends.
Last season, Billy Donovan was visibly upset during an NBA Cup game between the Celtics and Bulls as the Celtics played Hack-a-Shaq against poor free-throw shooting center Andre Drummond in pursuit of a point differential that would send them to the next round of the NBA Cup, and Donovan complained about the situation to reporters again after the game.
On Friday, with the Celtics in need of every point they could get to build their chance to advance, Mazzulla leapt to his feet and called for a timeout to draw up a play leading by six with just over a second remaining.
The play worked to perfection – Sam Hauser faked a screen, then ran to the corner and took the inbounds pass, burying a one-footed 3-pointer over Ayo Dosunmu, whose shoulders slumped in frustration.
The NBA setting up the East Group C for another showdown between Mazzulla and Donovan was perfect unintentional comedy, and as Mazzulla noted after the game, the Cup gives teams an opportunity to acknowledge and throw out the unwritten rules, which makes for an entertaining watch.
The Bulls had very little for Jayson Tatum.
Pritchard might have put the game away for the Celtics, but Tatum was – predictably – the best player on the floor.
After missing three out of his first four shots, Tatum went 11-for-14 the rest of the way and finished with 35 points, shooting 4-for-8 from 3-point range.
When Tatum has a big game, one of the things that often seems to pop is how little uniformity there is in his scoring. He doesn’t get hot and shoot the same shot over and over again because he’s the focal point of the opposing defense, and they won’t let him.
But on Friday, the Bulls got picked apart from every angle. Tatum demolished Nikola Vucevic in pick-and-roll sets. He muscled through smaller defenders in the post. He nearly sat Torey Craig down at one point with a vicious crossover and then buried the 3-pointer. In the third quarter, he buried a pick-and-roll 3-pointer that was nearly double-teamed. He caught Josh Giddey completely flat-footed and burned him to the rim for a layup that probably should have been whistled for an and-one. He hit Lonzo Ball with a nasty spin move and zipped right by a contest for the layup.
Tatum added 14 rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal, and he was +13 in a game his team won by nine.
Tatum is sometimes accused (by fans of teams that are Celtics rivals, conveniently) of being a generic superstar, but that’s not the case – rather, he just doesn’t really have a signature. In a season that could end up being his first real push for MVP consideration, Tatum’s greatness seems to lie in his ability to do essentially everything. When you can do everything, your success ultimately comes down to your ability to read the game and pull out the right move at the right time.
Increasingly, Tatum seems to have the right answers.
Jaylen Brown absolutely detonated on Jalen Smith.
Brown has a new best-dunk-of-the-season candidate, and certainly his best of the season so far. Midway through the fourth quarter, Bulls guards Julian Phillips and Talen Horton-Tucker blew a pick-and-roll coverage badly, and the paint opened up like an empty hallway for Brown.
He exploded into the paint, lifted up and smashed in a massive one-handed slam over Jalen Smith.
Horton-Tucker and Phillips might owe Smith an apology – he did his best, but if Brown is given that much runway, playing Meet Me At The Rim against him is simply unlikely to go well for the defender.
Brown had an off night (21 points on 7-for-21 shooting and three turnovers), but keep an eye on the NBA’s new Daily Dunk Score Leaders on its stats site – we’re guessing Brown might get a very high score.
Derrick White left the game, but he should be okay.
Derrick White sat out most of the second half with a sore foot, but Mazzulla told reporters afterward that White told him he was going to be fine.
Prior to his injury, White had a very productive 24 minutes: 16 points (6-for-10, 4-for-8 from three), six rebounds, four assists and a volleyball spike of a block that the NBA incorrectly credited as a steal.
Nikola Vucevic showed a hole in the Celtics’ defense.
With Kristaps Porzingis back in the lineup, the Celtics do need to iron out one issue: When an opposing team has a reliable stretch big, Porzingis struggles to defend them. Porzingis is comfortable as a drop big, but against pick-and-pop threats like Vucevic, he can be targeted a bit, and Vucevic buried four 3-pointers in a blazing hot two-minute second-quarter stretch on Saturday, en route to a 6-for-9 performance from deep.
As the Celtics reintegrate Porzingis, figuring out how to deal with players who are similarly sized and similarly able to space will be important.
On the other hand …
Porzingis scored 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting, and he punished the Bulls in the paint whenever they got caught switching on him.
Sometimes Porzingis forces that switch: On one play in the second quarter after Vucevic missed a shot in the paint, Porzingis sprinted the length of the floor and ran deep into the paint, establishing position against Zach LaVine. When Holiday floated an entry pass to him, Porzingis turned and had an easy little floater against the much smaller defender.
We really can’t overstate how big having Porzingis’ specific blend of offense back on the floor could be for a team that was already rolling even without it.
A showdown of the East’s best.
The 16-3 Celtics will now travel to Cleveland for a Sunday evening game against the 17-3 Cavaliers for a chance to leapfrog into the top spot in the East as the calendar flips to December.
After Sunday, the Celtics have a murderous week: Four home games, including the Heat on Monday, the Pistons on Wednesday, the Bucks on Friday and the Grizzlies on Saturday.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com