BOSTON — Payton Pritchard was glad the Celtics beat the New York Knicks for their first win of the season on Friday night. But he couldn’t stop thinking about his own lackluster performance — 4 points on 1-for-5 shooting in 30 minutes off the bench.
He wasn’t as aggressive as usual, and he didn’t attack the paint as decisively. It didn’t matter; thanks in large part to a masterful 36-point performance from Jayson Tatum, the Celtics came out on top.
Still, it didn’t feel great to know he didn’t play
his best.
“But it’s a long season,” he said. “I try to give myself forgiveness of it, even though it ate away at me.”
On Monday night, in a 134-99 win against the Chicago Bulls, Pritchard bounced back, exploding for 28 points on 10-16 shooting. He did most of the damage in a 39-point Celtics third quarter, shooting 7-for-8 from the field, including 5-for-5 from three.
“It just feels good to catch the rhythm again, and just bounce back from the other night,” he said.
In Year 7, however, Pritchard doesn’t get rattled after a lackluster start to the year. Pritchard signed a 2-year, $44.2 million extension right before the season started, and he now knows he routinely recovers from slow starts.
Still, Payton Pritchard early-season struggles are an interesting phenomenon
In 22 career October games, Payton Pritchard has shot 38.7% from the field and 31% from three. It’s his least efficient month of the season, by far, and he’s not exactly sure why.
“I really couldn’t put my finger on it, but I think you could look at the last couple of years— like, I just have games where it’s very non-aggressive, just out of rhythm,” he said.
The difference between Pritchard’s efficiency in October and the rest of the year is stark; the 28-year-old shoots at least 44% from the field and 38% from three every other month. November typically brings a dramatic bounceback; after struggling to start the year, Pritchard has shot 45.3% from the field and 40.3% from three over 66 career November games.
At the start of the year, it looked like he could get off to a strong start; he poured in 17 points on 4-for-9 shooting in the opener against the Detroit Pistons.
But Pritchard’s individual performance against the Knicks nonetheless left a sour taste.
“We got the W, but I want to perform better and be better for our team,” he said. “So, tonight was me coming out with just an aggressive mindset — just kind of play free and just attack the paint.”
So why does it happen? Why does it seem like sometimes, the 6’1 guard just fades into the background?
Pritchard attributes nights when he creates fewer offensive advantages to his own approach — not to anything his teammates or opposing defenses are doing.
“It’s 100% my aggression,” Pritchard said. “And it’s not about just taking shots to me. Like, I’m fine with any amount of shots. It’s about, like: how do I attack, and am I touching the paint? Am I pushing the pace? Stuff like that — controllables.”
Sometimes, like on Friday, when Pritchard reviews the tape, he feels underwhelmed by his own approach. He’s eager to fix it immediately.
“When I don’t do it, I feel very disappointed in myself, and I feel like I’m hurting the team in that area,” he said. “So, I feel like it’s the main thing I can bring to the team — a sense of pace and attacking the paint and kicking out and just making plays.”
After a career season, opposing teams are no doubt paying extra attention to Pritchard’s offense. He acknowledged he might face extra defensive pressure on the heels of a career-best 17-points-per-game season, but wouldn’t concede that’s a justifiable reason for his early-season struggles.
“Honestly, that shouldn’t affect me,” Pritchard said. “You have reads for any way they defend you, and if it’s gonna be ball pressure, I don’t mind dribbling on any type of pressure. So, if they’re gonna pick me up, I should be able to attack the paint, make a play.”
On Monday, however, his October struggles appeared to be in the rearview.
“He’s another guy that impacts winning in different ways,” Joe Mazzulla said. “Tonight, you saw the scoreboard, which is obviously something that’s really important for us. But he’s been making plays defensively, his assists, his ability to make plays on both ends of the floor. So even if he’s not scoring, he still impacts winning at a high level. When he does what he does tonight, it makes us a better team.”
