The Celtics beat the Mavericks without much resistance Tuesday in Dallas, hours after completing their Anfernee Simons trade. Following that deal, C’s coach Joe Mazzulla made a strategic decision when it came to his starting lineup.
Payton Pritchard came off the bench for the first time this season for Tuesday’s game. Baylor Scheierman was a starter in his place. With Simons unavailable after the trade, it was clear the Celtics wanted another ball-handler off the bench. Mazzulla explained the decision to have Pritchard as a reserve after the victory over the Mavericks.
“I just thought it gave us the best chance to win,” Mazzulla told reporters in Dallas, via the NBC Sports Boston broadcast. “Payton’s a competitor. He wants to win. He wants to do what’s best for our team. I thought that gave us the best chance to win.”
Pritchard, to his credit, looked just like his normal self despite the change in role. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year came off the bench aggressive, looking for his shot. He finished Tuesday’s game with 26 points, four rebounds and seven assists, shooting 12-for-20 from the field.
The Celtics’ guard depth is down without Simons for the foreseeable future. While the C’s added to their center rotation in landing Nikola Vucevic, it does leave the team without a primary ball-handler coming off the bench. Fortunately, Pritchard was unfazed when it came to being a reserve once again.
“It benefits our team more,” Pritchard said. “It puts another ball handler off the bench. At the end of the day, it’s about do you play starter minutes? Do you finish games? I don’t really care about starting. If you want me to start, I’ll start. If you want me to come off the bench, it doesn’t matter. It’s about when you get in, what do you do with your minutes? That’s what I was focused on today.”
Derrick White continued to be a starter as he got a bulk of the point guard duties Tuesday. As Pritchard noted, he still played a healthy amount, finishing with 35 minutes in the victory. The Celtics leaned on his shot-making throughout the night in what was a comfortable victory in Dallas.
The Celtics are expected to still be active on the trade market ahead of the 3 p.m. Thursday trade deadline. They could look to add another point guard to ease the pressure off both White and Pritchard. But as of now, it looks like the C’s will deploy Pritchard coming off the bench.
“As you see how our team is constructed, you need somebody to come off the bench to handle the rock,” Pritchard said. “It’s good. D-White comes out and I come in. It’s always somebody who can bring it up, get us into the flow. Stuff like that. So it just makes the most sense for our team.”