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The Boston Celtics have started their final Eastern Conference matchup of the 2024 NBA Playoffs. The Celtics are taking on the Indiana Pacers in the conference finals. Indiana possesses stout role-player depth but so does Boston. Former Celtics player Eddie House revealed who Boston's prized contributor is, and his name is not Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
House joined the NBC Sports Boston crew to reveal his thoughts on the battle of role players between Boston and Indiana.
“I don't want to hear about TJ McConnell…I actually wanna see Payton Pritchard go to work on him, if you keep it real with me…I know who the real dawg is and that's Payton Pritchard,” House told the NBC Sports crew, The Celtics Files.
Eddie House has a point. Payton Pritchard is an offensive weapon who can make a big impact. Pritchard had a career year during the 2023-24 regular season. The 26-year-old averaged 9.6 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per contest and played all 82 games, all of which were career highs. In addition, he shot an earnest 38.5 percent on three-pointers.
Pritchard will not hesitate to attack the Pacers' defense if given the opportunity. Thankfully, he has stout help from his teammates Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The star duo has been vital to Boston's regular season and playoffs success.
Jayson Tatum has averaged 24.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 5.8 assists through 10 2024 postseason games. The 26-year-old is one of the driving forces behind Boston's dominance. However, the team would not be where they are without Jaylen Brown.
Brown averages 23.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 0.7 steals through 10 playoff games. Outside of Payton Pritchard and Tatum, Brown might be the one who takes the Celtics over the hump.
Celtics want to continue to exemplify two-way greatness
Jaylen Brown takes great pride on the defensive side of the ball, an attribute that greatly helps the Celtics. One of Brown's best performances of the 2023-24 season came against Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans.
Williamson amassed scored 25 points in New Orleans' 104-92 loss to the Celtics. Yet, nothing came easy for him. Brown played all-around hounding defense on Williamson and expressed his enthusiasm for tough matchups like the slashing forward.
“I feel like [being a versatile defender] is something my team relies on me to do now. So I take it with honor and responsibility. [Williamson] was my matchup, and I wanted to make sure we made it tough on him, and I think we did,” Brown said, per Celtics on NBC Sports.
Brown recognized Williamson for his strength, explosiveness, and craftiness around the basket, saying “You don't see a lot of guys like Zion in the world.”
He said Williamson's attributes were the reasons one needs to be able to hold their ground and be quick enough to stay in front of the star forward. Brown rose to the challenge and gave the Pelicans star a tough time throughout the night. He made sure everyone knew that he was not backing down.
“In that moment, I was letting him know, letting everyone else in the gym know, I'm not going anywhere. I'm strong enough to hold my ground,” Brown added.
Brown and his teammates want to continue to do everything they can on defense to help the Celtics defeat the Pacers and reach the NBA Finals.
