Pritchard leads Celtics in bounce-back win over Raptors: Takeaways

And, maybe most necessary to Joe Mazzulla, Pritchard hardly ever turns it over. He completed Friday’s recreation with eight assists and one turnover, which is able to enhance his assist-to-turnover ratio that’s at the moment fourth within the NBA amongst gamers who play quarter-hour or extra per recreation (and Pritchard performs 10 or extra minutes greater than any of the three gamers above him).

“Rising up, once I performed up for my age and in highschool, once I was a freshman, and once I was a freshman in school, I wasn’t going to be on the courtroom if I turned the ball over,” Pritchard mentioned. “So my job was at first, it’s like, run the offense, don’t flip it over, and solely take open pictures. And so I realized the way to grasp that, and it’s type of carried on.”

Pritchard completed Friday’s recreation with a team-high 27 factors 12-for-19 capturing.

“To be sincere, I don’t even know if I figured it out absolutely but,” he mentioned. “It’s nonetheless a studying course of. Each recreation, simply continue to grow and rising. I don’t know. What number of video games are we in? 30-something? So I really feel like I’ve gotten higher from the start of the 12 months, however nonetheless extra steps to go.”

The Celtics solely shot 28 3-pointers

The Celtics’ earlier season low in 3-pointers tried was 33, which they hit twice towards the Magic (in a pair of wins, notably). That’s not a recipe for achievement — the Celtics are actually simply 7-5 after they try fewer than 40 3-pointers in a recreation — however they’re adequate to search out methods to win even when their opponents can take an necessary a part of the sport away.

“Each recreation goes to be completely different,” Pritchard mentioned. “I felt like we had been attending to spots. Middies. Attending to the rim. If that’s what they’re going to present us, we should always take it and shoot it at a excessive share. Then once we do get open seems, take them and take them confidently.”

The Celtics nonetheless made 14 of their triples, which meant that the Raptors — regardless of taking 47 3-pointers of their very own — solely completed plus-four in makes.

“We are able to play alternative ways, as you’ve seen, and so we simply should proceed to do this, however we obtained to the free-throw line, we obtained 39 layups, and we stored them off the free-throw line, and we stored them off the glass,” Mazzulla mentioned. “So all these issues type of add up.”

Jaylen Brown labored the refs (and it labored)

In three separate solutions after Wednesday’s loss to the Nuggets, Jaylen Brown made some extent to abundantly clear that he felt he didn’t get the requisite foul calls.

On Friday, Brown went to the free-throw line 13 instances and made 12 of them en path to a 25-point efficiency.

Brown conceded on Friday that his efficiency towards the Nuggets “wasn’t my finest.”

“I’ve simply obtained to maintain my head on straight,” he mentioned. “Don’t let it have an effect on my physicality or the best way I play. Don’t let it cloud my imaginative and prescient, fascinated by the refs, not fascinated by making the precise play. So I’ve simply obtained to remain poised.”

The Raptors made a concerted effort to get the ball out of Brown’s palms, however Brown appeared blissful sufficient to let others do the heavy lifting — he took 15 pictures and dished out seven assists. He was slightly sloppy with 4 turnovers, however his willingness to get off the ball when the sport requires it has been certainly one of his higher qualities this season.

“I believed he made nice reads,” Joe Mazzulla mentioned. “[…] He had seven assists, and he had some potential assists too, however on the finish of day, he’s simply obtained to proceed to make the precise learn vs. the 2-on-1, which he takes pleasure in, and he does it persistently.”

Brown is being extra open

Earlier than the sport, Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic famous that Brown’s left hand is now not a weak point prefer it was.

“He’s mendacity,” Brown quipped after the sport. “He’s mendacity. Don’t hearken to him.”

However Brown’s left hand is considerably higher, and when pressed by a reporter, Brown mentioned his earlier points might have been associated to the well being of his left wrist, which has given him suits all through his profession. Brown mentioned he went by way of a variety of procedures since 2021, together with stem cell procedures to get wholesome.

“Proper now, it’s nonetheless wonderful,” Brown mentioned. “That might change. However I’ve labored on it quite a bit. My well being standing is what I deal with most.”

“None of you might have ever requested me about it, to be sincere,” Brown mentioned merely.

He went on, nevertheless, to acknowledge that he’s much more sincere and open this 12 months.

“It’s the age of reality, 2026,” he mentioned. “The 12 months of the Horse is on its means. It’s a 12 months the place reality will emerge.”

Anfernee Simons could be overqualified

Simons scored 15 factors on 6-for-9 capturing, marking the seventh straight recreation —and the tenth recreation in his final 11 — that he has scored in double figures. After a comparatively temporary studying curve, he now seems very comfy in his new function.

“I feel he’s a greater basketball participant in a matter of some months,” Brown mentioned. “He competes on the defensive finish. He understands the sport slightly bit higher as nicely, like the way to play successful basketball.

“And he’s a extremely proficient participant. He’s most likely extra proficient than the function he’s in proper now. However he comes out, he has the precise mindset, he contributes to successful each single night time, which I respect the hell out of.”

With Simons, the Celtics now have 4 gamers together with Brown, Pritchard and Derrick White who’re all able to being high-usage ball-handlers in numerous stints, and all 4 can rating in quite a lot of methods from all three ranges.

On Friday, Simons tossed in three 3-pointers along with a troublesome end in transition and a one-handed push after exploding out of the nook round a display.

The Celtics have discovered loads of artistic methods to make use of Simons, and whereas there’s actually a powerful argument to made in favor of discovering a giant on the commerce deadline, the Celtics have confirmed themselves extremely adept at creating bigs on discount contracts into competent contributors, and it isn’t simple to search out gamers who could make baskets like this.