Playoff basketball can feel like the Walking Dead sometimes. Everywhere you turn there's some dangerous thing coming out of nowhere looking to take you out and you have to grab anything you can to fight them off to survive.
The Celtics were swarmed early in Game 2 by an undead Bruce Brown, flexing in front of his fellow native Bostonians while scoring the first nine points of the game (and 12 overall in the first quarter). Brown gave way to Kevin Durant, who scored 10 in the quarter. Then it was Patty Mills, and Goran Dragic, each looking to take a bite out of Boston as the lead grew to 32-18.
Enter Grant Williams, who hit a pair of 3-pointers in the closing seconds of the quarter. Instead of Brooklyn getting the lead close to, or up to, 20, Williams sent the Celtics into the second quarter down only single digits. He cut it to a six-point game with another triple to start the second quarter.
“Our backs were against the wall a little bit in the first half, we had some trouble getting it going, and Grant made play after play,” Jaylen Brown said after beating the Nets. “He made some key buckets where they left him open and he made them pay.”
The Celtics were able to hang around after that, but they never seemed to be able to make the final push they needed. They were like Tom Hanks in Castaway trying to get over the wave but never making it because he needed the sail to get that last boost.
Like that big piece of plastic washing ashore, in came Payton Pritchard.
“Grant, Payton, they were really the heroes of this game,” Brown said.
Pritchard’s damage all came in eight fourth-quarter minutes where he was a +11. He hit the shot that put Boston ahead for good, but he also cleared away a couple of rebounds that turned into huge Celtics points on the other end. For a guy whose size is a liability at times, he was a beast on the boards.
“Payton did a great job of just flying in,” Williams said. “There were a couple of rebounds in there, I think I had my hands on and he came in and recovered it. Bruce Brown had a chance to grab it over Al (Horford) and Payton came in and grabbed that one. So it's testament to him.”
By the time Pritchard gave way to Marcus Smart, the damage had been done. He and Williams had bookended a game that didn’t look winnable for probably 30 of the 48 minutes.
But that's how the playoffs go, really. Games are often swung by randomly great stretches of play by someone unexpected. The stars will generally do what they do, but on the days where they don’t, or at least don’t for most of the game, someone from the sideline has to step up to make up the difference.
That's pressure.
“For me, it's just about doing my job, honestly,” Williams said. “It's just about being who we are, trusting one another and understanding that our work is a testament to what we do naturally is going to all be good. … It's just a matter of staying together and focusing on one play at a time, no pressure on one individual or the bench or anybody else. We're just having fun out there, sticking together and I'm trying to compete to our best ability.”
Pritchard is in an especially precarious position because every first stint of his in a game is a sort of test balloon. If he struggles, he doesn’t play anymore. If he does alright, he’ll get a chance.
On a night where Derrick White was struggling, Pritchard stepped up with big shots and strong enough defense to not give the points back on the other end. On a night where the Celtics needed someone to help fend off the zombie Nets whose season probably should have died a while ago, it was Pritchard and Williams who allowed Boston to survive and take a 2-0 lead with them to Brooklyn.
“I think when you come off the bench in the role, I mean, it can change game to game, so you got to be ready for what you get,” Pritchard said before the game. “And it's not an easy job but whatever you get out there, you gotta go out, play hard defense, knock down your shots, make plays, and what you get you get. So just keeping that mindset. I mean, I'd rather be in this position than not playing, so you got to make the most of it.”
