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Payton Pritchard addresses his shooting woes as Celtics struggle as a whole
"I'll have a lot of good shooting days ahead so I'm not worried about that."
The Celtics are off to a 3-5 start following Monday’s loss to the Jazz, and they continue to struggle in one unexpected area.
Under Joe Mazzulla, Boston has been known for the volume of three-pointers they shoot every game. The Celtics set the record for threes taken in a season last year with 1,457, and are leading the league again averaging 47.8 per game.
Taking this many shots from deep has worked in recent years, when they were hitting. However, while attempting the most, Boston are currently second worst in terms of three-point percentage, at 31.2.
The Celtics went 11-51 in Monday’s loss. Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser went a combined 1 for 17 Monday, and Payton Pritchard and Derrick White are 24% combined on the year.
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Pritchard isn’t worried about the slow start though, and is confident he will turn things around.
“Doesn’t bother me one bit,” Pritchard stated when asked about his shooting woes Monday night after the game. “I know it’s the type of player I am, so percentages will play out. We’ve got, I don’t know how many more, 73 [more games]? I’ll have a lot of good shooting days ahead so I’m not worried about that.”
Pritchard was moved into a bigger starting role this year with the offseason losses and Jayson Tatum’s injury, but he’s yet to get hot like he has off the bench in the past.
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He has averaged over 40% from long-range three times in his career so far, and his scoring ability has been put on notice. Jrue Holiday even mentioned last year on the “Run It Back” podcast that the Celtics had a drill where they all played Pritchard 1-on-1, full-court, since he’s the hardest to guard.
The confidence Pritchard has in getting back to making shots comes largely from the looks he is getting.
“I’ve just missed some wide open ones that I usually hit,” he continued post-game. “It’s not like it’s a defense doing something, it’s just maybe I haven’t hit the ones I usually hit. Like I said, I’ll bounce back.”
If the Celtics keep getting open looks the shots will start to fall, as they have too many good shooters to keep missing.
Joe Mazzulla attributed Boston’s lackluster shooting to the change of play-style they’ve incorporated this season. The Celtics have had to work harder on defense and rebounding to grind out wins, which Mazzulla believes is taking a toll on the players.
“I think the shooting is coming from us getting our legs underneath us, playing a different way, the bodies getting used to that because we’re obviously playing a little bit different,” Mazzulla commented after their victory against their Cavaliers on Oct. 29. “So I think it’s starting to catch up.”
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The Celtics will look for Pritchard to heat up and get back to hitting his patented half-court shots as they try to return to winning ways.
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