On Saturday evening, the Boston Celtics, led by Jayson Tatum, achieved an impressive 30-9 record in the 2023-24 NBA season by securing a dominant home victory against the Houston Rockets. Despite Tatum’s early departure due to an ejection resulting from disputing a foul call, he and his teammates managed to recover from last week’s disappointing performance against the Milwaukee Bucks.
One standout player for the Celtics in the game against the Rockets was shooting guard Payton Pritchard, who contributed 19 points coming off the bench. Following the game, Pritchard was questioned about his increased playing time during the fourth quarter, commonly known as “garbage time,” when the outcome of the game is essentially decided and no longer in doubt.
“I never view it as garbage time,” stated Pritchard, as reported by Noa Dalzell of CelticsBlog on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. “It’s just a chance for me to showcase my skills… everyone on the court is an NBA player, after all. This is top-tier basketball.”
Undoubtedly, even the minutes considered “garbage time” in an NBA game surpass the level of basketball played in any other organization worldwide, especially in terms of raw talent. Pritchard seems to have found his rhythm with the increased playing time, a trend that started after the departures of Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon in the previous offseason.
The Celtics are set to face the Toronto Raptors next on Monday evening.
