Pritchard drops a great quote about Heat’s Erik Spoelstra’s whistling, originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Payton Pritchard puts his opponents on notice.
The Boston Celtics guard strengthened his early case for Sixth Man of the Year on Monday night with another strong showing off the bench, tallying 25 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in a 108-89 win over the Miami possible. Heat.
Pritchard scored a handful of his points in isolation against Heat defenders, and after several of those buckets, he directed some nice words and a scowl in the direction of Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra and the Heat bench.
“They can’t guard me,” Pritchard appeared to say after putting Heat rookie Pelle Larsson in a blender. He then appeared to shake his head at Spoelstra after hitting an easy stepback jumper over Tyler Herro.
Pritchard did not deny barking at Spoelstra and the Heat bench after the game. But don’t ask him what exactly he said, because he claims he can’t remember.
“I’m sure I said something,” Pritchard told reporters afterward. ‘But sometimes I black out at those moments.
“But obviously I respect them. They’re a good organization, they play hard as a team, so it’s nothing personal. It’s just competitiveness at the end of the day.”
Pritchard has always been a fierce competitor and a relentless worker. With that work comes a high level of confidence that has helped the 26-year-old guard take his game far beyond what fans and even opponents expected from him.
Case in point: Pritchard just became the first player in the NBA this season to score 20-plus points in four consecutive games off the bench, and the first Celtics player to do so since Isaiah Thomas in 2015.
Like Thomas, the undersized Pritchard plays with an outsized chip on his shoulder and isn’t afraid to let opponents know they can’t guard him. That edge has helped Pritchard develop into a legitimate scoring threat who takes things personally every night, regardless of the opponent.
“Honestly, I consider it a rivalry against any team,” Pritchard said when asked if he still considers Celtics-Heat a rivalry. “I’m up to play every team there is. It doesn’t matter if they’re in last place. Miami is a good organization. They’re ready to play, and so are we.”
Pritchard will look to keep his scoring streak alive Wednesday when the Celtics host the Detroit Pistons at 7:30 PM ET on NBC Sports Boston.
