Boston Celtics
He was aggressive in transition, finishing 6-for-8 from 2-point range and working his way to the free-throw line nine times.
Payton Pritchard and the Celtics started off their NBA Cup slate with a comfortable win over the Bulls, claiming a 125-111 victory.
Here are the takeaways.
Payton Pritchard wants to be a more complete player
Over the years, we’ve grown used to seeing Pritchard do things like this.
Few basketball players in the world are better than Pritchard at creating space — a necessity given his stature, generously listed at 6-foot-1 — and even fewer are better at scoring after creating it. Pritchard has carved out a role for himself as one of the league’s best scoring guards, earning the designation of “the coldest white boy I’ve ever seen” from Allen Iverson.
Pritchard scored 30 points against the Bulls on Friday. He was aggressive in transition, finishing 6-for-8 from 2-point range and working his way to the free-throw line nine times.
Again, we’re used to this — Pritchard is one of the league’s most dangerous players in isolation, and he has been instrumental over the last three years in helping the Celtics run up their regular-season record, pummeling lesser opponents into dust.
Joe Mazzulla, however, wants more. After Friday’s game, Mazzulla noted that he likes pushing Pritchard and that he loves the guard “like a brother.” Part of Mazzulla’s vision for Pritchard’s improvement is on the defensive end.
Pritchard said Mazzulla “challenged” him to be better.
“I feel like the first four games my defensive activity and my rebounding have been poor,” Pritchard told reporters after the game. “I felt like coming out today, and obviously coming in and out with fluctuating minutes, so challenging me to step up in that area.”
As a team, the Celtics were very disruptive on Friday, and Pritchard pitched in — picking off two steals in the first quarter, and even earning a hug from Mazzulla when he left the floor.
The first steal was a heads-up poke against Zach Collins, who turned away from Pritchard at an inopportune moment and didn’t see him coming.
The second was a sloppy pass by Josh Giddey who tried to throw the ball over Pritchard’s head but was intercepted.
Mazzulla said that Pritchard’s two-way performance against the Bulls was “the absolute best version of him.”
“It takes a ton of energy, you’re not going to be able to do that every single night, but the sky’s the limit for him, and as we continue to grow as a team, and he continues to grow as a player, being a complete player on both ends of the floor really helps us take it to a different level,” Mazzulla said.
“So he’s got more in the tank.”
Paul George is drawing rave reviews
One of the biggest positive early revelations of the season has been Paul George’s multifaceted contributions. He is much better than advertised on the defensive end — still very much a menace on the ball, and perhaps even better at reading the play when he’s off it. The Celtics are forcing 18.4 turnovers per game so far, which is third in the league, and George is seventh in the NBA at 2.4 per game.
“His defense is phenomenal,” Pritchard said. “I didn’t know how good it was until I’ve seen him up close.”
On Friday, George was excellent once again — 18 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals. All of his steals led to buckets: His first was followed by an assist when he dished to Jayson Tatum for a 3-pointer. His second led to an easy runout slam. His third led to a heat-check 3-pointer, which he missed, but Pritchard outworked Matas Buzelis, throwing off the much-larger Bulls wing for a put-back layup.
Perhaps most notably, George appears thrilled to be Tatum’s sidekick. He seems to relish any opportunity to get Tatum involved, and while the Celtics have run their first set for him to score several times this year, he often tries to get his teammates involved in the early going.
Mazzulla praised George profusely.
“His impact in the locker room, his coachability, his open mindedness, his humility, his willingness to do whatever it takes, taking care of his body to be on the floor for us, his communication in the film room, defensively, his ball pressure, his activity, his deflections, and then you get to the offensive piece,” Mazzulla said.
“He just has the ability to score within the flow of the offense. He has the ability to work off screens, come off pin-downs, set screens. He’s really enjoying just picking the game apart, learning the game, and so multiple layers to what he’s given us.”
The Celtics’ offense is also drawing rave reviews
After facing the Celtics twice in a week, Bulls coach Thiago Splitter was left impressed by the Celtics’ movement off the ball — specifically the way they integrate flare screens (picks set off the ball to free a shooter) into their actions.
“It’s really difficult to be aware of the flares that are coming,” Splitter said, per the Boston Herald’s Zach Cox. “[…] They have a bunch of shooters that can come off those off screens, and then at the same time, you have Tatum iso’d in the top, and he could drive the ball anytime.”
The early center numbers are stark
The Celtics have stuck with the same starting lineup since preseason, going with Mitchell Robinson over Neemias Queta, but the numbers are yet to show why — so far, lineups with Robinson are -12, scoring just 101.9 points per 100 possessions (2nd percentile), per Cleaning the Glass.
Meanwhile, lineups with Queta are outscoring opponents by 19.8 points per 100 possessions.
On Friday, Robinson was -3, while Queta was +16.
The Celtics are, of course, just five games into the season, and Robinson — who won the title with the Knicks and probably is owed some level of hangover grace — has noted previously that the Celtics involve him in the action more than the Knicks did.
Queta stressed the importance of communication.
“For the guys that have been here for longer, I think we have a good understanding of how to approach both sides of the floor, and just trying to help Chris [Cenac] and Mitch be up to speed on those aspects,” Queta said.
“The rest of the guys have been really solid, and I think we can be really good on both sides of the floor. It’s just figuring out the adjustments that we need from these first five games and understanding what we can get better at. I think we’ve got a good grip on that.”
Still, Celtics fans are starting to get antsy.
The Celtics let some points slip
In the NBA Cup, point differential matters: The suddenly frisky Wizards won their NBA Cup debut by 16. The Celtics, meanwhile, lost the fourth quarter by 11 (and the third quarter by four) to drop from what was once a 32-point lead to just 14.
The Bulls managed to put up 25 points in the final four minutes of regulation against the Celtics’ bench unit, which could actually have real consequences for the Celtics’ cup chances if they finish with the same record as the Wizards.
Neemias Queta pointed out that it is imperative for teams to “play until the last whistle” during the NBA Cup.
“I like that, just not a fan of the point differential — a situation like that like last year where you’re just out there fouling and going to the free throw line too much,” Queta said. “Other than that, I like everything it brings.”
Mazzulla agreed, reiterating that teams playing in the NBA Cup “have to live in two worlds.”
“It’s one of 82,” Mazzulla said. “At the same time, there’s an in-season [tournament]. I think every year it gets closer to what we want it to become. […] I think it’ll be something that turns into the best version of itself in time.”
Jayson Tatum was very good again
Tatum had a slightly quieter game after his 40-point buzzer-beating performance against the Nets, but he put up 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists against the Bulls.
Three of Tatum’s first four baskets came on cuts to the hoop (the one exception was a wide-open 3-pointer put on a platter for him by George). After that, Tatum got into a bit of a rhythm — he buried a heavily contested jumper over Isaac Okoro and hit a rhythm 3-pointer during the Celtics’ run that pushed the lead as high as 32 in the second quarter.
Tatum also hit the Bulls twice with this little half spin — a discombobulating 1-on-1 move that forces the defender to shift their feet and open a driving lane.
Okoro is a solid defender, but once Tatum gets an opponent on his hip, there is very little that anyone other than Victor Wembanyama can do about it given his length and his ability to use his broad shoulders to finish.
Delonte West was at the game
West, who has struggled very publicly with substance abuse disorders, but he was in attendance for Friday’s game looking healthy.
When the Jumbotron showed him, the TD Garden crowd gave him a big ovation, and West received it with a salute and a smile.
Celtics fans have long been cheering for West personally. Friday’s game was a hopeful sign, and a nice opportunity to show him some support.
What’s next
Farewell, October, with your reasonably spaced games. November is coming, and it’s a doozy — starting with a three-games-in-four-nights stretch.
The brutal month begins on Saturday afternoon in Orlando at 3:30 p.m, followed by a tough back-to-back Monday against the Rockets. The Celtics then return to Boston to play the Bucks on Wednesday.
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