Kristaps Porziņģis, Payton Pritchard take control as Celtics bounce back in Game 3 win

MIAMI — Kristaps Porziņģis loves visiting Miami. He has household right here, the climate is gorgeous and it’s an awesome place to unwind.

But he discovered it arduous to loosen up after having considered one of his worst video games as a member of the Boston Celtics.

“Oh man, it was a long two days, you know?” Porziņģis stated. “Just the way it burns inside after a game like that, a loss like that. I mean, probably having my worst game as a Celtic, it really burned inside, I’m not going to lie.”

This may not be his first playoff run, but it surely’s the primary time he’s had a real likelihood at a championship. He was introduced in as the lacking piece to this Boston core and Miami gave him a impolite reminder of simply how arduous issues are going to be in the postseason when it held him to 6 factors over half-hour in Game 2 of this sequence.

Yet throughout his 48 hours of angst, Porziņģis projected his patented cool. His workforce wasn’t too fearful whether or not one unhealthy sport towards the Heat was going to deflate his confidence.

“KP keeps an even keel regardless,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla stated earlier than Game 3 Saturday. “So I expect him to bounce back and have a good game.”

Mazzulla made positive of it.

In the opening minutes, Boston ran performs to get Porziņģis an open 3 in transition, a tough roll alley-oop and even a spot-up 3 curling off a display screen. By the time he checked out, the Celtics have been up 12-3 and by no means seemed back en path to a 104-84 win to take a 2-1 sequence lead.

Got to like the ball motion ending with a KP 3 💦 pic.twitter.com/1RCMnsHLtr

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) April 27, 2024

“He’s probably our most important guy on our team for what we’re trying to accomplish,” Jayson Tatum stated. “So no doubt in my mind, I knew he was going to have a better game and bounce back.”

The Heat aren’t naive. They knew Porziņģis was going to attempt to get himself going early.

“I think everybody knew I wanted to bounce back from that game,” he stated.

The Celtics might have doubled down and force-fed him post-ups, however they as a substitute needed to present him the liberty to function in house and make these post-ups the counter-adjustment to the adjustment later in the sport.

“It didn’t feel like falling into their game of this, like, wrestling setting the screen and now try to get the position and it’s a tough pass inside and they’re poking at the ball, just mucking up the game,” Porziņģis stated. “It was like we were feeding into what they want us to do. And today was a little bit different and much … more of our game.”

The key wasn’t simply to drag him away from the put up, however to cover him from the preliminary motion of the play. Early in the primary quarter, they caught him in the weak-side nook and ran a play that appeared to arrange a Tatum iso. But then they concurrently ran an motion for him behind the entire play to get him capturing on the transfer.

“I think just getting him involved is important, moving him around, but he has the ability to create indecision,” Mazzulla stated. “So I thought his rolls were good. They put pressure on the rim. I thought his pops were good too because he forces pockets of two-on-ones. So he’s going to be involved on both ends and he has a huge impact for us.”

Then in the put up, Mazzulla acknowledged how Miami was efficient in pushing out Porziņģis’ catches in the excessive put up and needed to make use of that to their benefit. Rather than having him combat for that heart of physicality on the nail in the center of the free-throw line, the Celtics formed their actions to presume Porziņģis was going to catch his entry passes additional away from the paint.

So as soon as a guard threw it into him, they have been supposed to chop instantly for a fast give-and-go.

Cookies & Cream with the join 🤝 pic.twitter.com/kJxi2gsyJI

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 27, 2024

(*3*) Porziņģis stated. “And, they’re handsy, they’re gambling. … Yeah, that’s what they want to do. So a little bit like counter-attacking that worked out for us.”

Porziņģis didn’t should spend the entire sport combating for put up place and that freed him to be extra lively and bodily on each ends. But when Boston traded Marcus Smart for him, one of many greatest questions was how the workforce might replicate Smart’s confidence and physicality.

It’s come from completely different locations all through the season, however there’s one participant on the Celtics who craves it. Payton Pritchard’s usually the smallest man on the ground. He’s not a giant leaper. He lives in the trenches, making an attempt to muck the sport up like Miami did in Game 2.

When Boston received off to its scorching begin and introduced Pritchard into the sport, Miami might have put Pritchard into cross-matches and labored back into the sport.

Instead, Pritchard pressed Miami’s ballhandlers all over the place on the courtroom. He shot with confidence. He made performs on the rim. He was a catalyst.

“Payton is one of the most confident guys I’ve ever been around,” Tatum stated. “Any given moment, you know, he walks out there like he’s the best player. To have that confidence is special and we need him to be like that: being aggressive on both ends, being able to attack closeouts and create his shot, create for others. And to have that off the bench is special.”

Just watch how Pritchard got here out defending to open the second quarter.

He was assigned to Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson all through the primary half, making an attempt to hand-check them and disrupt their path all over the place on the ground. On this play, he hand-checks Robinson so successfully that he can’t even get to the screens Miami is setting for him and simply dribbles it off his foot out of bounds.

Porziņģis represents their expertise. Pritchard epitomizes their combat. As Tatum put it, the massive check for them is to have the ability to punch first and preserve throwing jabs the remainder of the night time.

“When you combine that with our talent level, I think it’s going to be hard to beat us,” Tatum stated.

After an unpleasant Game 2, the Celtics bounced back and seemed like themselves once more. Porziņģis is the important thing to them reaching their ceiling, however Pritchard helps them keep their id.

(Photo of Kristaps Porziņģis: Megan Briggs / Getty Images)