Haircut, then breakout: How Payton Pritchard got his mojo back vs. Memphis

When the Celtics returned from Philadelphia early Wednesday morning Payton Pritchard was stewing He had just played his worst battle of the young season five points three assists three rebounds in minutes in a - loss to the ers He d also managed just five points two nights earlier in a win at Orlando Over those two games Pritchard took shots and made just four of them Nine of his -pointers missed their target exacerbating a trouble that s persisted for Sixth Man of the Year-turned-Celtics starter since the season began last month The misses began wearing on his psyche He fell into a funk mentally I was very disappointed with myself these past two games Pritchard declared Kind of down in the dumps a little bit Just overthinking the last two games Every play Didn t feel like myself at all Going home last night I woke up this morning just hungry to attack this contest and get back into the flow get back into the rhythm Related Articles Celtics season-best shooting paves way for rout of shorthanded Grizzlies Celtics make big change to starting lineup for matchup vs Grizzlies Celtics rookie cleared to play vs Grizzlies after injury scare What went wrong in Celtics late loss to ers I let my guys down Celtics drop another thriller to ers on late-game putback Before Boston welcomed the Grizzlies to TD Garden on the second night of a back-to-back Pritchard longed to make a change But not to his shot his pregame warmup or his routine He revealed the spark he was looking for in a barber s chair I got a haircut this morning Pritchard declared Sometimes you ve got to go back to those things Hours later the freshly buzzed Boston guard got off the schneid with a -point nine-assist six-rebound showing as his group steamrolled Memphis - Playing with an increased emphasis on pushing the pace Pritchard shot -for- from the field and -for- from three Just before halftime he ran the length of the floor for a fast-break layup that put Boston ahead - The Celtics outscored the visiting Grizz by points across his minutes the best plus minus of the -year-old s career As he put it It was more like me tonight The last two games it was just a lot of overthinking Pritchard explained It was like Is this the right shot Is this the right pass Is this the right time to drive it instead of just playing with instinct And I m sure everybody saw it People that I know that are close to me obviously were telling me about it just that I didn t look like myself and I didn t feel like myself So I just was motivated to come out here tonight Payton Pritchard of the Boston Celtics gets the fans going as Neemias Queta looks on during the first half during an easy win over Washington at the TD Garden Photo By Matt Stone Boston Herald Consecutive duds aren t common for Pritchard who was able to stay reasonably productive over the first two-plus weeks of the season despite shooting far below his usual standard from beyond the arc He scored five or fewer points in back-to-back games just twice last season He s no stranger to a slump though After Wednesday s win he recalled one particularly nasty one from early in the - season I definitely have gone through it a lot Pritchard stated And to be honest when I go through them is usually when I kind of break through and get a little bit better I went through it in college and I ve gone through the pros a lot I don t know if you guys remember but my fourth year when I started playing again after I just signed a new contract I think I went through a five-game stretch where I didn t hit a three or even have a bucket I think I went five games straight without scoring and people started questioning whether I was worth the contract or should I even be playing Pritchard s memory of that frustrating stretch was only slightly inaccurate Over the first seven games of his fourth pro season he had four nights with zero made field goals and two others with one I was really down that time Pritchard continued But then getting through it once I got through it I started to get better and better and better So there s going to be low points and it s just don t let it break you You just grow from it learn from it and get better from it The Celtics hope Wednesday s win was a sign of things to come Though they were facing a scuffling opponent Memphis had lost six of its last seven that was missing two starters Ja Morant and Zach Edey it was the best collective performance of the season by Jaylen Brown Derrick White and Pritchard the three headliners of Boston s new-look roster The trio went -for- from the field and -for- from deep in the lopsided win with White like Pritchard looking much more like the top-tier outside shooter he was last season He came in shooting from three slightly above Pritchard s eyesore Both were above a year ago when both broke the previous franchise record for made -pointers in a season Their improvements combined with Brown s steady scoring helped the Celtics make a season-best of their -pointers and post their second-highest point total of the season They re - thus far when they shoot better than from three and - when they don t Sometimes it s tough because everybody s talking to you about it reported White who finished with points five rebounds four assists two steals and one block in minutes Everybody s like Keep trying keep shooting keep like we believe in you You just hear that from every person So you kind of sometimes want to just give them a few space and let them process it his own way Everybody kind of has their own way of getting through slumps and getting through tough times And I mean Pritchard knows we ve got the ultimate amount of trust in him that this is just a little slump and that is we keep getting those looks that he s been getting that will start turning for us