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Wednesday night time’s Recreation 2 win might be remembered by one picture:
There have been definitely different cases of infamy. I’m certain Al Horford didn’t take it too kindly that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope tripped him in transition after Horford had already accused him of “one thing further” when he hard-fouled Jayson Tatum in Recreation 1.
As visceral as if performs have been, I’m going to mentally bookmark two others in Wednesday night time’s win. Contemporary off being named the 2025 Sixth Man of the 12 months, Payton Pritchard delivered in Recreation 2 with fourteen factors. The scoring will at all times be Pritchard’s calling card. His 246 triples off the bench have been probably the most in NBA historical past and the three threes he hit in Recreation 2 have been momentum-making photographs within the gritty win.
Nonetheless, Pritchard can be an underrated defender, part of his recreation that must be equally spotlighted together with his high-volume, 40.7 3FG% this 12 months. As far as a main defender on this sequence, the Magic are taking pictures simply 4-of-15 in opposition to Pritchard, together with 2-of-9 when he’s focused by Orlando’s star duo, Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero. Working example:
Payton Pritchard received Sixth Man of the 12 months bc of his offense, however the dude will get it achieved on the different finish of the ground each night time. Have a look at this. Towards Paolo Banchero — who has 9 inches and 55 kilos on him. That is ridiculous! pic.twitter.com/yThgDXLWbL
— Marc D’Amico (@Marc_DAmico) April 24, 2025
Kristaps Porzingis catches that errant elbow from Goga Bitadze on that Banchero miss and that would be the lasting picture, let’s not overlook the picture-perfect protection from the 6’1 David on the 6’10 Goliath. KP will get gashed between the eyes, however Pritchard is the one slingshotting stones.
And with Orlando nibbling on the Celtics double-digit lead within the remaining minutes, we get some PP magic of our personal. Leveraging his three-point gravity, Pritchard not solely cuts again door late in to the shot clock, however as quickly as he will get misplaced within the timber, he’s artful sufficient to slide out of the woods and with that Sixth sense, conjure up an and-1.
If it bleeds, it leads. I get it. However these two performs from Pritchard are extra indicative of what this sequence has to date been about for the Celtics: with the ability to defend Orlando’s two stars with an all-hands-on-deck method and simply figuring it out on the offensive finish regardless of the Magic’s physicality.
There may need been a pure tendency to shrink back from the contact and chuck up extra photographs from behind the arc. Nonetheless, the Celtics haved matched Orlando blow-for-blow with Boston’s huge males taking the brunt of the Magic’s brutishness and their smallest participant touchdown physique blows of his personal.
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