Following their 102-100 loss against the Philadelphia 76ers last Tuesday, the Boston Celtics returned to winning ways with a 131-95 rout of the Memphis Grizzlies at home last night.
After consecutive five-point outings, Payton Pritchard paced the Boston Celtics with 24 points, six rebounds, nine assists, and five three-pointers on 8-for-15 shooting from the field. Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Luka Garza, and Neemias Queta followed suit by contributing 20, 19, 14, and 13 points.
“I was very disappointed with myself these past two games,” Pritchard told Taylor Snow of Celtics.com. “Didn’t feel like myself at all. Going home last night, woke up this morning just hungry to attack this game and get back into the flow… It was more like me tonight. There’s gonna be low points, and it’s just, don’t let it break you. You just grow from it.”
“He’s the ultimate competitor,” White said of Pritchard. “P’s an unbelievable teammate, and every night you’re going to get someone that’s going to compete at the highest level.”
Boston Celtics News: Joe Mazzulla isn’t too worried about Derrick White’s poor shooting nights
Before last night’s win against the Memphis Grizzlies, Derrick White had struggled from the field, shooting below 37.0 percent against the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic. However, head coach Joe Mazzulla said this was somehow expected because White has a “lot of responsibility” this year.
“He has an important job for us, and he’s got a lot of responsibility,” Mazzulla said of White via ClutchPoints’ Daniel Donabedian. “He’s like top in the league in steals and blocks, and he just takes on different roles every night. So he’ll continue to do whatever it takes to help us to win.”
“We care. There’s a high ‘care factor,'” he continued. “I think we have a humility to know we’re not playing the way we want to, but we also know we’re playing hard, and we can get so much better.”
