The Boston Celtics suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in their season opener, losing by just one point as Payton Pritchard missed both of his game-winning shots. Payton was clearly not happy with the end result, not only because of the missed shot, but also because he couldn't find an open teammate to get a better look.
“Probably just read it wrong. Anfernee and Sam were open in the backfield, so I had to pass the ball,” Pritchard said after the game when asked about the play.
It seems he took this lesson to heart and did it quickly. In the first game, Payton only had two assists and made many mistakes. In the next four games, he averaged 7 assists per game (APG) and had just 1 turnover per game.
In last night's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Payton posted his 11th career double-double and only his 8th assist, with the other three scoring and rebounding. It was a tough shooting night for him, going 4-for-13, but his game-high 10 assists kept the offense going and was, frankly, a surprising blow to a team widely expected to be at the top of the Eastern Conference again this year.
Last season's Sixth Man of the Year now has a starting role for the Celtics, and as a result, he takes on more responsibility in controlling the tempo of the game. Payton, who came off the bench, basically had the green light to shoot. He's a spark plug used to generate instant offense.
His light isn't getting any greener this year, but what might have been considered the right read last year may no longer be considered the best read this year. Not only will he be playing against the starters more often now, but he'll be on the court with the Celtics starters more often and will have to help them get into shape while trying to find their rhythm, rather than coming into the game after they've already started building their offense.
Defenses will focus more on him, especially with Jayson Tatum out and the offseason loss of Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford and Luke Kornet. Shooting isn't that easy for him and he needs to be able to make the right reads to find the best look.
While the sample size is small, Pritchard is playing 5.4 more minutes per game, his APG is up 2.5 from last year, and his turnover numbers have remained almost the same. He leads the Celtics with 6 assists per game this season, and Derrick White ranks second on the team with 4.4 assists per game.
Again, we're early in the season, so our sample size is small, but Payton's jump in playmaking is certainly worth monitoring. The best looks almost always come from ball movement, so having Pritchard as coordinator gives Boston a chance to maintain a high-level offense despite a dip in talent last year. As of now, Boston's offensive rating is 118.2, ranking 9th in the league. We'll have to wait and see how long they last.