Malcolm Brogdon injury means Celtics should find minutes for Payton Pritchard
Tomase: Brogdon injury means Celtics should find minutes for Pritchard originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Just a quick thought in advance of Thursday night's do-or-die (get used to that phrase) Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Celtics and Heat: It's time for more Payton Pritchard.
With The Athletic reporting that Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon is playing through a partially torn tendon in his shooting elbow, we now have a plausible explanation for why the veteran guard has been airballing 3-pointers, short-arming layups, and getting trucked on defense.
He hasn't looked like himself all series, and it's possible, per the report, that he'll need offseason surgery.
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In the meantime, he has become a clear liability, which creates an opening for Pritchard. The biggest concern with playing the undersized guard is how he'll hold up defensively, particularly in switches with the predatory Jimmy Butler, who has never met a smaller guard he wouldn't abuse in the midrange.
But if Brogdon's not offering much defensively because he lacks the strength in his right arm to hold his position, then why not give Pritchard a look? He can't be any worse defensively, and his ballhandling and outside shooting bring a dimension that could yield gains on the offensive end.
It's not as if Pritchard has regressed this season -- he was simply squeezed for opportunities in a deep backcourt that features Marcus Smart, Derrick White, and Brogdon. He reminded everyone that he remains useful in the final game of the regular season, when he played 45 minutes vs. the Hawks and delivered a 30-14-11 triple-double. Not the highest stakes, obviously, but still.
We're only a year removed from Pritchard playing a useful role in a Finals run, which included some effective games against the Heat. Among them are the two highest-scoring games of his postseason career: 18 points in a Game 1 loss, and 14 in a Game 4 blowout win.
And lest we forget, Pritchard came up huge in Game 1 of the Finals vs. the Warriors, delivering eight points and six rebounds in only 15 minutes off the bench, including a pair of mammoth 3-pointers.
With the exception of a few uneventful minutes vs. the 76ers when he barely touched the ball, however, Pritchard has either not played at all (9 DNPs) or received only token garbage minutes this postseason.
Brogdon's situation changes things, however. The Sixth Man of the Year is shooting just 1-for-11 in his last two games, including 0-for-5 from deep. He has two turnovers and zero assists. It's understandable that head coach Joe Mazzulla wants to ride with the guys that got him here, but a diminished Brogdon hardly qualifies as an asset.
Pritchard, meanwhile, plays with energy – something the Celtics have periodically lacked throughout this series – and he's capable of knocking down an open 3. It's not like he needs to play 35 minutes, but he might give you a lift for 15.
Considering that the Heat have been winning games on the margins all series, with Duncan Robinson returning from the dead to play meaningful minutes, perhaps there's a similar opening for Pritchard to give the Celtics something where Brogdon physically can't.
