Payton Pritchard heeds call, finds mark from 3-point territory in Game 3 win
Pritchard was the Celtics' leading scorer in their Game 3 win over the Knicks, putting up 23 points.
NEW YORK — Despite Joe Mazzulla already dealing with a tight rotation and Kristaps Porzingis’s illness in this conference semifinal series, Payton Pritchard found himself with his minutes dipping slightly before Saturday’s Game 3.
After averaging 23 minutes over the first two games, Pritchard helped the Celtics shake off rust from beyond the arc, going 5 for 10 from 3-point range in the 115-93 victory.
Jalen Brunson lost sight of Pritchard after a double-screen from Jayson Tatum and Porzingis, leaving the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year wide open for his first make late in the first quarter. But overall, Pritchard had a suboptimal start to the game, missing three of his first four shots.
Pritchard wound up playing a postseason-high 35 minutes Saturday afternoon and made the most of his extra time, nailing four 3-pointers in a row after his shaky start.
Mazzulla stuck with Pritchard, he said, because Jrue Holiday got into foul trouble.
“Our sub-patterns are always flexible,” Mazzulla said. ”Tonight, Jrue had three fouls and Payton was good. At times, you go with what makes the most sense. Just the flexibility of what we were able to do, but he played really well on both ends of the floor for us. There was some foul trouble there, so we were able to go to some different stuff.”
While they were facing criticism after blowing 20-point leads in back-to-back games at home, the Celtics doubled-down on their aggressive approach from the 3-point line.
“Obviously, it was stuff we already knew but we went through different things,” Pritchard said. “We watched areas where we could clean up a little bit, but it was really being more confident and just letting it fly.
“Don’t second-guess a good shot. You come off a ball screen and it’s there, it’s like who cares what the outside world is saying. We shoot too many threes, everybody is saying that, but if you believe in your shot and you’re able to hit it, then take it confidently. That’s just the biggest thing.”
The Celtics limited themselves to eight turnovers, and Pritchard helped the cause by eating up minutes without committing any turnovers while providing a spark with his shooting.
“You always want to keep the pace, you just want to make smart decisions and try to limit live ball turnovers,” he said. ”As long as we’re getting good looks, the percentages will play out the right way. I know we struggled with shooting the last two games, but we all believe in our shooting abilities.
“Really, it’s just controlling the momentum plays, not letting them hit a 10-point swing, getting a stop when it matters most, stuff like that.”
Entering Madison Square Garden down 2-0, as the Celtics did Saturday, is not the ideal way to kick off a series. But Pritchard said he wouldn’t have it any other way. It was an opportunity to see what the Celtics were made of.
“Obviously we were disappointed after Game 2. We’re competitors,” Pritchard said. ”We let it slip, but we’ve got to move on for the next one, you’ve got to take care of Game 3. It’s a must win.
“Now it’s on to Game 4. We’ve got to have the same mind set coming in and try to bring it to 2-2 and bring it back home.”
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