When fully healthy this season, the Boston Celtics have rolled with the same lineup in crunch time. Yet, to close out the Celtics' game on Tuesday night versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, head coach Joe Mazzulla made a notable adjustment with guards Jrue Holiday and Payton Pritchard.

Instead of  Holiday playing down the stretch, backup Pritchard received a larger share of fourth-quarter minutes. The Oregon product was on the court for the entire final frame, helping the C's cut into Oklahoma City's double-digit lead.

Ultimately, Boston's comeback effort fell just short, losing 127-123. But, Joe Mazzulla was happy with Pritchard's effort in the last 12 minutes of the contest, per Jay King of The Athletic.

“[Pritchard's] presence helped us get back in the game,” Mazzulla said. “Just brought a level of physicality to the game defensively and then spacing on offense.”

Payton Pritchard recorded one rebound, three assists, and two steals in the fourth quarter for the Celtics. For the game, he had five points and a plus-minus rating of +9 in 25 minutes.

It wasn't a remarkable performance off the bench, yet Pritchard's two steals with less than six minutes remaining gave the Celtics some crucial extra possessions. The Thunder's once 18-point lead was even reduced to just two with four seconds left before star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander iced the game with free throws.

As for Jrue Holiday, the veteran guard had a forgettable outing. The 33-year-old had three turnovers and seven points while going 2-for-8 from the field in the Celtics' loss to the Thunder.

Although he probably won't get benched late that much in the future, Holiday's absence in the fourth quarter shows that the Celtics coach is willing to ride the hot hand when necessary.