looked baffled when he got MVP chants<\/a> Tuesday night inside TD Garden while shooting free throws against the Brooklyn Nets. Payton Pritchard came to the sideline on Friday night after two dominating first-half stretches against the Chicago Bulls and found a smiling Joe Mazzulla waiting with a hug.<\/p>\nSmiles and hugs? From Mazzulla?<\/p>\n
It turns out the secret is pretty simple. Respond to the coach’s challenges, and you might just get an in-game squeeze.<\/p>\n
Pritchard grabbed only three rebounds, but one in particular jumped out to us during his first-quarter takeover. Pritchard tracked a long rebound and launched himself between both teammate Hugo Gonzalez and Chicago\u2019s super springy\u00a0Matas Buzelis to secure the ball.<\/p>\n
Pritchard then broke out the other way in transition, accelerated past one Bulls defender, and took a bump from another while delivering an and-one layup that had Boston out front 40-21.<\/p>\n
For the second time in a week, Pritchard had delivered a double-digit quarter against the Bulls. He finished the first quarter with 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting and added 2 steals on the defensive end. Pritchard went on to finish with a team-high 30 points on 9-of-17 shooting over 34:45.<\/p>\n
“Joe challenged me and I feel like, in the first four games, my defensive activity and my rebounding has been poor,\u201d said Pritchard. \u201cSo [Mazzulla was] challenging me to to step up in that area and I think the hug was for me to be like doing that and him being thankful I’m doing it \u2026 We’ve been through a lot together and so it’s just great to keep it going, and then I stepped up to the challenge in that area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite his size, Pritchard has routinely ranked as one of the best rebounders on the offensive glass for his position. He\u2019s been a bit more middle of the pack among point guards on the defensive glass, but that rate has plummeted to a career-low 5.4 percent to start the 2026-27 season, or nearly half his career rate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That one tough rebound in traffic on Friday night was a reminder of how being active on the defensive glass can help fuel Pritchard’s overall output.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, Pritchard was credited with defending a team-high 14 shot attempts against the Bulls, who shot just 35.7 percent when he was the primary defender, or 7.9 percent below expected output.<\/p>\n
“I think in tonight’s game you saw the absolute best version of him,\u201d said Mazzulla. \u201cNow, that takes a ton of energy \u2014 not going to be able to do that every single night. But the sky is the limit for him. And, as we continue to grow as a team and he continues to grow as a player, being able to be a complete player on both ends of the floor really helps us take it to a different level.\u201d<\/p>\n
While further gushing about Pritchard, Mazzulla added: “I like pushing him.\u201d<\/p>\n
For one night, all that pushing led to an embrace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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