The Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Hornets 114-93 on Wednesday night at TD Garden to improve to 3-0 in the preseason. Jayson Tatum led the way with 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Derrick White added 17 points and a team-high 4 steals. The defense forced 29 turnovers.
Payton Pritchard did not have his best shooting night, finishing with 7 points on 3-of-13 from the field. The box score did not look like much at first glance.
Then you see the other number. Eleven assists. Zero turnovers. His teammates noticed.
What Pritchard’s Teammates Are Saying
Mitchell Robinson was direct about what Pritchard brings when he is on the floor.
“He’s fast. He can handle the ball really well,” Robinson said. “Being in there with P, it’s like night and day.”
Neemias Queta connected on multiple baskets off Pritchard passes on Wednesday. He credited Pritchard’s scoring ability as the reason the Celtics playmaking works. Defenses collapse on Pritchard because of what he can do as a shooter, and that creates openings for everyone else.
The respect inside the locker room is not new. But the way Pritchard played against Charlotte suggested something beyond what his teammates have seen before.
Why This Performance Stood Out
Pritchard averaged a career-high 5.2 assists per game last season. At media day, he floated the idea of adding four more per game this year. That sounded ambitious at the time. Wednesday made it look less like a stretch.
He passed up open threes to find teammates in better positions. He ran the offense with pace and purpose. The Celtics outscored the Hornets by 19 points during his 29 minutes on the floor. Three nights earlier, in his preseason debut against the 76ers, he posted 25 points and 7 assists with a plus-35.
Coach Joe Mazzulla has pushed Pritchard to expand his game every season. The playmaking is the next frontier.
“His ability to just give the game what it needs is one of his biggest strengths,” Mazzulla said.
Final Word for the Celtics
Pritchard signed a $44.2 million extension on Tuesday. Two days later, he went out and showed the Celtics might be getting an even better version of the player they just paid.
The shooting will come back. It always does. What matters more right now is the vision. Eleven assists and zero turnovers in a preseason game does not guarantee anything. But it tells you where his head is.
The leap might already be underway.
Celtics Get Notable Payton Pritchard Development Ahead of New Season