I don’t care if it happens in the preseason, regular season, playoff, or Finals.
When this team steps on the floor, I believe in what they do matters.
That’s old news.
So this isn’t really about the Sixers or even the result.
But this game still had intrigue because it was our first look at the new look Celtics.
On paper, it looks ridiculous, but would that actually translate to the floor?
That’s what I wanted to see.
Our answer was you bet your fucking ass it did.
I wouldn’t even say the Celts played all that well either, and they still threw up 114.
You probably care too or else you wouldn’t have clicked this blog.
We waited over 120 days for Celtics basketball to return to the Garden, and boy did it.
That would weigh on anyone, especially someone as competitive as Payton.
Contract extension aside, this is a pretty important season for Pritchard.
Given what their guard room looks like, he needs to deliver and be a productive player.
A team best 26/4/2 on 9-14 (6-11) in his 23 minutes, Pritchard was incredible.
When it came time for someone to make a huge bucket in the final minutes, Pritchard responded.
To me, this looked like the Pritchard from 2021-22.
That shooting is just so fucking legit.
Spot up, catch & shoot, off the dribble, it doesn’t really matter.
Now that’s a turnaround jumper.
His 4 AST were second on the team, only training Tatum.
To start your day securing 30M and then to end it by dropping 26 points in 23 minutes.
Not a bad day for Payton Pritchard.
Instead, he was nails from the opening tip.
You knew once he hit his shot/three exactly why Brad made this trade.
Offensively the threes were nice, but how about that little midrange pullup on the elbow?
That’s a shot that no Celtic big was taking last year.
Not only that, but how about 8 FTA!
That may not seem like a big deal, but it sneaky is.
Al Horford took like 10 FTA all season long.
Rob never really got to the line.
Having that element added to the Celts offense is going to be a big deal.
I didn’t see any issues with his foot or anything along those lines.
- Everyone knows how much of a disaster the ECF was for Jaylen Brown.
2022 was Tatum’s Finals, 2023 was Jaylen’s ECF.
After then signing his supermax deal, all eyes are going to be on Jaylen from here on out.
Everything he does is going to be magnified, that’s just something that comes with the territory.
So how did he look in his debut?
His shot was dogshit (3-13, 0-4), so what did he do?
He got his ass on the block and got to the line (9 FTA).
That’s something I’m making a note of.
- Al looks spry because of course he does.
He’s an ageless wonder.
This should surprise no one, because this is just what Al Horford does.
Had Embiid played, Horford would have had him in hell….again.
Loved what I saw from Al in his short stints.
- The same is true for Oshae Brissett and Lamar Stevens.
All I really need from those two guys is to hustle, attack the offensive glass and secure putbacks.
Maybe hit the occasional open 3PA if they feel like getting spicy.
Grow up dude, it’s preseason.
I didn’t even know they could do that!
They didn’t turtle, in fact they locked in and executed!
What a nice surprise.
Missing 2 FTs also annoyed me a little bit.
Figure that shit out.
If you’re able to’t prevent penetration, everything falls apart.
- Like Tatum, a tough shooting debut for Jrue Holiday at 2-10 overall.
The Celts don’t need that key in of offensive approach from Holiday.
Just knock down your open looks, create for others, and defend.
That’s the formula for him.
It’s honestly impressive how he simply cannot catch a basketball.
A team worst -12 in his 12 minutes, the 3 TOs really hurt him.
- 8 missed FTs.
The Ugly
- Sam Hauser is on this team to make threes.
Unfortunately, going 0-6 (0-6) is the exact opposite.
Can’t go 0-fer.
- The defensive rebounding was a bit of a concern.
No Embiid and it still didn’t matter.
The Sixers had 14 OREB and took 95 FGA to the Celts 85.
No Celtic other than Tatum had more than 5 rebounds.
The rebounding moving forward has to be much better.
In terms of a first look, I’d give the new look Celtics a solid B.
