BOSTON — While the Celtics haven’t necessarily needed their bench pieces yet, there are still plenty of games left in the young season. That’s when the C’s will really need their supporting cast to step up — much like they did in their win Friday against the Nets.
The headliner Friday from the reserves will be Payton Pritchard, who broke through some struggles on his way to a 13-point night. It was a positive sign for the Celtics after Pritchard started 3-for-20 from 3-point land. But Sam Hauser was also big, finishing 5-for-10 on 3-pointers as he poured in 15 points. Luke Kornet was also capable in his 18 minutes as the third big man on the roster.
“It’s like we’re just starting to jell more and more,” Pritchard said. “This is the first year really playing in the second unit together. So it’s the start of the season. But I’m looking at it like we would rather be jelling towards the end of the year than the beginning.”
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The Celtics were without Al Horford on Friday as he sat the front-end of the back-to-back. Kristaps Porzingis also ended up only playing 25 minutes as the Celtics didn’t need to play him in a blowout win. That opened up plenty of minutes from the bench starting from the first quarter.
While Pritchard, Hauser and Kornet have been with the Celtics for multiple seasons, they’re still getting used to the new additions to the roster. Oshae Brisett brings in some elite offensive rebounding, and his energy as a spark plus is undeniable whenever he hits the court. Elsewhere, Svi Mykhailiuk also got some first-quarter minutes as he looks to earn a role on the bench.
The Celtics will need those role players all season. They haven’t been hit with an injury to a starter yet. Even if players aren’t out, the Celtics will find nights where they can get their starters some rest over the course of a long season. That’s where the reserves can slide in as they stay prepared behind the scenes.
“He changed the game for us tonight,” Mazzulla said of Pritchard. “Him, and then Sam, and then Luke, and Oshae, and our bench in general. But it started with Payton. And what we see is like, it’s easy to look at the scoring of the bench and be like we’re not producing. But there’s so much other stuff that those guys do for us on a daily basis.”
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