BOSTON — He hit another one. Payton Pritchard got his heave off on time four days after his three-quarters court shot left his hands too late to end the third quarter in Washington. This one, less of his patented launch and more of a typical three, fell to end a 18-7 bench push that flipped the Celtics from down three with 5:49 left in the third to ahead 90-82 into the fourth.
Pritchard made eight threes, in fact, shooting 10-for-14 with 28 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in his finest night as a reserve. Boston found a bench unit that works midway through the third, tightening its rotation to Xavier Tillman Sr. at center with Pritchard playing in place of Derrick White. The Celtics won, 119-108, after Milwaukee emptied its bench with 2:44 remaining, advancing to 4-0 before a four-game road trip.
Sam Hauser missed his third straight game with back soreness, which forced more lineup juggling. Jordan Walsh entered for Jaylen Brown midway through the third quarter run, and played into the final frame, garnering a pair of offensive rebounds, a rim grazing put-back and a stop on Giannis Antetokounmpo in his first night in an extended rotation role. He played 12:45 while Luke Kornet took a step back with 9:46.
Joe Mazzulla signaled continued reliance on double-big rotations before the game that have struggled when they featured Kornet and Tillman Sr. together. They joined forces again, losing a 12-10 stretch in the second before Boston went in other directions later.
“It’s not trying to find (a second unit). We have it,” Mazzulla said. “The second unit is the whole bench. We’re not trying to find it … it’s going to look different every night … it’s that group of the Neemy, the Jordan, the Luke, the X. As you saw, we sent X to the table, they changed their sub pattern, we brought Luke to the table or vice versa. It’s just a credit to them. They have a humility and a professionalism to always be ready. We’re just always gonna do what makes sense at that particular time. Coming off a back-to-back and Lillard’s foul trouble, they went to some different lineups and so we had to do the same. We just have to stay adaptable. They’re all giving us exactly what we need. It’s just going to look different at different times.”
It didn’t matter much who joined Pritchard through his inferno in each half. The Celtics found more possibilities by experimenting, and still won. Utilizing Tillman Sr. at center when Brook Lopez, who tortured Boston on the offensive glass, checked out fared better than the first half double-big look. The Celtics ran in transition on a 7-0 run before Lopez returned, and Boston stayed smaller, content to switch and put wings on the Bucks’ big man.
In the chaotic sequence that followed, the Celtics drew a technical foul complaining about a clear Jrue Holiday miss that touched rim yet became a shot clock violation, Walsh entered and grabbed two offensive rebounds, including a put-back, Pritchard’s offensive rebound led to a White three and Pritchard sunk his heave. Mazzulla later explained that the Celtics wanted to instill chaos into that sequence.
Walsh and Tillman Sr., who told CLNS Media before the game that he hasn’t dealt with the knee swelling that plagued him from one year ago, both finished the night +10. He blew up a possession by shaking the ball loose from Antetokounmpo guarding him on the perimeter. In the fourth, Walsh drew the two-time MVP and absorbed a few blows to the chest, Antetokounmpo sliding and sliding until the officials finally called a travel. Pritchard hit another three on the next and the Celtics never looked back, ahead by 13 on a 23-7 run.
“I told that to Jordan in the locker room, just finding a role and making big time plays like that is huge,” Mazzulla said. “Taking away (Giannis’) tendency and got fouled going up for an offensive rebound. You have to win games like that. Especially against good teams, sometimes it’s gotta be gritty, it’s gotta be ugly.”
