Nothing that happened on Sunday afternoon mattered. The Eastern Conference standings were already set. The Boston Celtics were locked into the second seed, and the Charlotte Hornets had long been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. The starting lineups alone told a very telling tale.
Joe Mazzulla rolled out Payton Pritchard, Baylor Scheierman, Sam Hauser, Torrey Craig, and Luke Kornet to square off against Charles Lee’s five of KJ Simpson, Josh Okogie, DaQuan Jeffries, Tidjane Salaun, and Jusuf Nurkic. Yet a game that meant nothing to either side quickly flipped into a tense, high-stakes affair between a head coach and his former assistant. And every single person in the building was invested.
A stunning display of offense in the first quarter quickly faded for the Celtics, and the Hornets slowly chipped away at what was a 21-point lead at its largest. Nurkic and Kornet battled down low, turnovers ran rampant for both sides, and Lee even picked up a technical foul at the end of the third quarter.
Amidst the meaningless, the Celtics held up their standard - and that matters to Mazzulla
What originally may have been a chance for Pritchard and Kornet to rest in the fourth quarter, giving way for the two-way players and bench mob to earn more run, turned into a hard-fought battle in the final frame.
Pritchard and G League MVP JD Davison took over ball-handling duties as Kornet and Neemias Queta’s double-big minutes helped counteract Charlotte’s scrappy presence in the paint.
With 2:13 to play, the game was tied at 86-86. And after Pritchard strung together a few scoring plays in a row earlier in the quarter, it was Davison’s turn to take over. He got himself to the rim for a layup, then set up Jordan Walsh for a three to put the Celtics up by five again.
Every made shot, collected loose ball, and defensive feat was met with a roaring applause from the TD Garden crowd as the two teams went back and forth. It didn't matter that it was Game 82. It didn't matter that it didn't matter. For the Celtics fans in attendance, and for Mazzulla and Lee, who shared the sideline, all that mattered was winning.
From there, it was over, 93-86 the final score for Boston (after a pair of take-foul free throws tacked on two more points).
“For me, it's just another opportunity to grow,” said Pritchard, who tallied 12 fourth-quarter points. “Being in a different situation that I'm not necessarily always in, and the ball being my hands more. So, it's always a growth step in learning how you can affect the games in different ways and stuff like that. So, I take advantage of every one of these opportunities because I'm going to use it to grow and keep expanding my game.”
Pritchard and Davison may not be the ones dominating crunch-time minutes in the playoffs, but this learning experience is valuable nonetheless. The former is in line to play a huge postseason role, and the latter is fresh off an incredible G League playoff run (and just earned his first standard NBA contract).
But it’s not just valuable for them.
Mazzulla may not utilize the same pieces in the coming weeks, as Boston attempts to win Banner 19, but the process remains the same. At least, that’s how he chooses to lead.
“It's not about having everyone available. It's about just having the same standard,” Mazzulla said. “And to me, the guys executed and played to the standard and the level, and I thought, towards the end of the game, JD, Jordan and Neemi making some big-time plays there. But that's what it's about. It's just playing to the level of standard. Executing. They were one for something from three in the first half, so you knew that they were going to go on a run, and we had to manage that.
“They took the lead, and our guys were able to execute and [stayed] poised. So, regardless of who's in [and] who's out, there should be an attention to detail to a level of execution. I thought the guys did that tonight.”
No matter the situation, no matter the stakes, Mazzulla holds a steady standard. On Sunday afternoon, it was Pritchard and Davison who saw the pressure fuel their flames. In the postseason, it may be Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, or Kristaps Porzingis.
The who does not matter. The standard does.
