Jayson Tatum may be the best player of the Boston Celtics, but for Jaylen Brown, “the GOAT” is rookie guard Payton Pritchard.
In the Celtics' 116-111 win over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday, Pritchard came off the bench and dropped 10 points, five rebounds and five assists across 27 minutes of play. More than his impressive stat line, it showed how the rookie is gaining confidence in just his third NBA game.
“Payton is the GOAT, man,” Jaylen Brown said after the Celtics got their second victory of the season, per Tom Westerholm of boston.com. “Payton came in there with the confidence. Definitely needed a spark coming off the bench, and Payton was everything and more for us tonight.”
Pritchard's performance marked his second straight game scoring in double figures. In their previous game–a tough 107-108 loss to the Pacers–the 22-year-old had 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from deep. He also had two assists and two steals.
While Brad Stevens hasn't trusted the rookie enough to become the team's starting guard with Kemba Walker still out, the Celtics head coach did praise Pritchard for his basketball IQ. Ahead of Tuesday's win, Stevens laid out his plans for the youngster moving forward.
Brad Stevens says Payton Pritchard "has really stood out with his ability to pick things up on the fly." Coach says Pritchard has played off the ball more than expected, and he may have the ball in his hands more often moving forward.
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 27, 2020
Pritchard is well-aware that his ball-handling skills have given him the capacity to make an immediate impact. His five assists prove this. And just like Stevens noted, he's looking to utilize this skill more often.
“I think my ball handling allows me to push the pace and be able to pull it out when things aren’t there,” the Celtics rookie shared. “I hope to continue to do that and push with tempo and get out on the floor, because I think that creates even more open shots for our guys and allows us to play with more time on the shot clock rather than walking it up. But as time goes on I think we’ll get better and better at that.”
The Celtics will face the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.
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