Payton Pritchard is questionable for Friday’s NBA Cup game in Charlotte with a right-eye abrasion, per the Celtics’ injury report posted Thursday. He suffered the abrasion in the third quarter of Wednesday’s 109-102 win over Milwaukee, per The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach, and left for good at 3:23 of the period, per ESPN’s play-by-play.
My take: Boston should treat this questionable tag as a big deal, because the second unit runs through Pritchard. He has come off the bench in all eight games and carried it. By my count from ESPN’s box scores, he has scored 104 of the reserves’ 343 points and handed out 29 of their 66 assists. His backup at point guard is a 39-year-old who has played 11 minutes all season. If Pritchard sits, Derrick White and Paul George have to absorb his minutes, and both already carry a heavy load.
What the report says
The NBA’s official injury report from 7 p.m. Thursday lists Pritchard as questionable with a right eye abrasion. He is the only Celtic listed for an injury. Devin Carter, Dillon Mitchell and Amari Williams are out on two-way G League assignments, and Chris Cenac Jr. is out on assignment, per the NBA’s injury report. Jayson Tatum, who rested against Milwaukee, is off the list.
This is Pritchard’s second straight game on the report. He was questionable before Wednesday with a right shoulder contusion, per the NBA’s Nov. 4 injury report, and played anyway. Against the Bucks he had 10 points and five assists in 18 minutes on 4-of-7 shooting, per ESPN’s box score.
Charlotte will be short too. Kon Knueppel is out with a left hamstring strain and Grant Williams is out with a right hamstring strain, per the same report. Friday is Boston’s second NBA Cup group game, after the Oct. 30 win over Chicago, per ESPN’s schedule.
The bench is built around one guard
Pritchard has not started a game this season after starting 50 last season, per Basketball Reference. He averages 13.0 points in 26.8 minutes off the bench. Nobody else among the reserves comes close. Luka Garza is the next-highest bench scorer at 60 points. Garza, Sam Hauser and Baylor Scheierman each have nine or fewer assists in their bench minutes, by my count.
Here is Pritchard next to the guards behind him, from ESPN’s box scores:
| Player | Games | Minutes | Points | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payton Pritchard | 8 | 214 | 104 | 29 |
| Mike Conley | 2 | 11 | 9 | 0 |
| Ron Harper Jr. | 3 | 17 | 3 | 1 |
| Devin Carter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Conley has been a coach’s decision in the other six games. His minutes came in the fourth quarter of a 134-99 rout of Chicago and in a 3:35 stretch to open the second quarter in Houston, per ESPN’s play-by-play. He made all three of his shots, all 3s. Carter is a two-way player who is with the G League team.
The best evidence of how Mazzulla sees it came Wednesday. When Pritchard came out at 3:23 of the third, Boston led 80-70, and Mazzulla sent in Jordan Walsh, a 6-foot-7 wing, per ESPN’s play-by-play. Conley never got off the bench. Boston was outscored 32-29 the rest of the way, went 1 of 11 from three in the fourth, and White and George scored 20 of the 22 fourth-quarter points. I wrote that White got to the rim when the Celtics’ 3s died. He had to.
The cold shooting matters less than it looks
Pritchard is shooting 31.0 percent from three this season, down from 37.7 percent last season and 40.7 percent in his 2024-25 Sixth Man of the Year season, per Basketball Reference. He went 0 of 7 from three in Orlando and 0 of 5 in Houston, which I flagged after the loss in Houston.
I’m not worried about that, and Wednesday is the reason. He didn’t take a single 3 against Milwaukee. He went 4 of 7 inside the arc, made both of his free throws and ran the second unit for five assists and no turnovers in 18 minutes. He is getting to the line 3.6 times a game this season, up from 1.7 last season, per Basketball Reference. A guard who can still help when his shot is gone is exactly the player Boston can’t replace from the end of the bench.
That is also why the Celtics gave him the two-year, $44.2 million extension in October. I argued last month that Pritchard’s contract is a bargain Boston has to use now, and the first eight games back that up.
What to watch Friday
If Pritchard plays, watch his minutes. If he’s close to his 26.8-minute average, the eye isn’t bothering him. If he sits, I expect Mazzulla to stagger White and George so one of them is always on the floor, the way he leaned on them after Pritchard left on Wednesday. That works for one night against a Hornets team without Knueppel.
It won’t work for the whole trip. Friday’s game in Charlotte starts a four-game road trip that goes to Milwaukee on Sunday, Philadelphia on Tuesday and Toronto on Wednesday, per ESPN’s schedule. White has played 246 minutes this season, tied with Tatum for the team high, by my count from the box scores. Boston can’t keep adding to that every time Pritchard misses a night. The Celtics’ bench runs through Pritchard, and Friday will show how little is behind him.