Jaylen Brown praises Payton Pritchard after massive night time in Detroit initially appeared on NBC Sports activities Boston
With Jrue Vacation sidelined for his third consecutive recreation — the guard nonetheless has no timetable to return as he offers with “useless arm”– Payton Pritchard as soon as once more stepped as much as play an enormous position within the Boston Celtics’ 129-102 win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night time.
Following Wednesday’s 19-point outing in opposition to the Milwaukee Bucks, Pritchard continued his spectacular methods by logging 20 factors on 8-15 from the sector, 4-9 from deep, 9 assists, and two rebounds in a team-high 38 minutes. Not like Wednesday the place he got here off the bench, the Oregon product entered the beginning lineup in Detroit.
Jaylen Brown, who led the Celtics with 33 factors, spoke with NBC Sports activities Boston’s Abby Chin after the win to speak about Pritchard’s sizzling streak.
“P [Pritchard] got here out on fireplace,” Brown informed Chin. “Within the first half, I used to be like ‘it is his present,’ so let him preserve working it.”
By way of the primary half, Pritchard shared a team-high 17 factors with Brown on a 57 % clip. The 26-year-old has finished an unbelievable job in Vacation’s absence, controlling the circulation of Boston’s offense and stepping up within the scoring division when wanted. With Jayson Tatum additionally sidelined in Friday’s matchup, Brown leaned on Pritchard because the secondary scorer.
“He was enjoying properly, working the fitting performs,” Brown added of Pritchard. “After we acquired our guys working like that, it is essential. We wish to empower our guys to proceed to play like that and reward them.”
Seen as a weak level firstly of the season, Boston’s bench has advanced into probably the most dependable second models within the league with Pritchard and Sam Hauser averaging 9.6 and 9.8 factors respectively off the bench because the All-Star break.
“These subsequent couple video games, I will be seeking to play by means of a few of our guys to get them feeling good about themselves,” Brown mentioned.
The Celtics will look to hold their momentum into Saturday night time as they tackle the Chicago Bulls within the second of six straight street video games.