The Boston Celtics might need another big offensive performance from backup point guard Payton Pritchard when they visit the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night.
Jaylen Brown, Boston’s leading scorer this season, didn’t play Friday night in a 109-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks because of Achilles tendinitis, but Pritchard filled the scoring void with a game-high 36 points, including six 3-pointers. He also collected seven rebounds and four assists.
Pritchard has at least 10 points in nine of his past 10 games for the Celtics, who are in second place in the Eastern Conference.
“The points are one thing,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “But I thought the ball handling, handling the pressure, the offensive rebounding — he had two offensive rebounds in the second half there that were huge for us. So it’s just those big-time plays.”
Those two offensive rebounds led to seven second-chance points.
“It’s just winning basketball,” Pritchard said. “I want to win, so obviously, you want to make a play. You see somebody shoot the ball and I see it coming off the rim, and just fighting, trying to get an extra possession. Those little things can change the game and win a game.”
Pritchard has averaged 25.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in the eight games Brown has missed this season. The Celtics have seven wins in those eight games. Brown is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game on Boston’s injury report.
Boston (49-24) has won six of its past seven games. The Hornets (39-35) are coming off Saturday night’s 118-114 loss to Philadelphia, which ended Charlotte’s five-game winning streak. The team had an 88-73 lead midway through the third quarter but was outscored 26-17 in the fourth.
“In that fourth quarter especially, our defensive focus started to wane a little bit as we were missing shots,” Charlotte coach Charles Lee said. “The guys did a good job the last few games of not letting that be the case, ever. Our shot-making can’t affect our defense.”
Charlotte, which has clinched at least a spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament, leads the NBA in made 3-pointers (1,210) and is third in 3-point percentage (38.2).
Rookie Kon Knueppel tops the league in made 3-pointers this season (256), and teammate LaMelo Ball is third (235).
Knueppel scored 20 points when Charlotte beat the Celtics 118-89 in Boston on March 4.
“We understand they’re going to have that edge on their shoulder because of how we did beat them in Boston, and so we need to turn the page,” Lee said. “Learn and turn the page.”
Jayson Tatum also is listed as questionable on Boston’s injury report (Achilles repair management). Tatum has appeared in 10 of Boston’s 11 games since he returned from surgery to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon last May. The Celtics are 8-2 when he has played.
Tatum played a season-high 37 minutes on Friday night against Atlanta and scored 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter.
“Yeah, I mean, just continue to give the game what it needs and then just see where he’s at from a physical standpoint,” Mazzulla said of Tatum’s workload. “There isn’t a specific number (of minutes he can play). It’s more about what looks the best for us, where we’re at, what we need, and we continue to go from there. He played the whole quarter a couple games in a row, and he’s handling it well, and so we just continue to kind of assess that and go from there.”
