NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 9, 2022

Payton Pritchard

Boston Celtics

Practice Day

Q. What was the energy, describe the energy of what it was like in here last night?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: It was unbelievable. I mean, they were ready from the jump, right when we came out to warm up. It was definitely a crazy atmosphere.

Q. You said earlier the Celtics are going to have to find different ways to win the games. Last night it seemed like Tatum and Brown led the way, but you got 52 points from Smart, Horford, Derrick White and Grant Williams. How many other ways can you find a way to win?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: It's going to be different things. Defensively getting stops. But it's going to be different guys each night. Obviously JT and JB led the way.

Every possession matters. That's the mindset we’re taking.

Q. I know it's been a long-running question of how do you bottle this up and do it on consecutive nights after wins. In your estimation, what needs to be done to be able to replicate what you did last night tomorrow night?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: Just keep our spacing good. Defensively make things tough. I mean, they're obviously an unbelievable offensive team. They're going to make shots, go on runs. Just making things tough.

I think going over our film session, we just got to take what we talked about, really implement in the game.

Q. What did you guys talk about?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: I think we got to keep some of it a secret. You'll find out in the game.

Q. What was it like to clamp down in that fourth quarter defensively and hold them to 11 points?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: I think it was really big. Obviously if we can limit them from having big runs, big scoring quarters, that would be huge. Obviously, our offense took care of the rest, so it was good.

Q. How good of a vibe is it with this team right now where you guys are at?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: It's really good. We know it's a long series. We still got to win two more games. We're only focusing one game at a time. A lot of things can happen.

We've been down in the last two series, down 2-1. That can change quickly.

Q. How do you feel you have to play in Game 4? Bring the desperation because it's a home game?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: For sure. For sure. We definitely going to bring everything we got. I think we're going to take that same mindset into every game.

Q. You actually played better on the road in the Playoffs than at home. Is it getting easier to play in front of this crowd with all the energy they give?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: Definitely. I think earlier in the playoffs we kind of just let our foot off the gas when we were playing at home, thinking that was going to take care of the rest.

Last night I think we really showed what we're capable of.

Q. Did you get a sense last night that the Warriors didn't have as much intensity as you guys did? It looked to me with the offensive rebounding, some of the hustle plays, 50/50 balls, you guys were getting them, that maybe their effort was less than yours?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: I don't know. I just think we made things tough. Like I said, they're a great offensive team. Over the course of a game, if you make everything tough, it'll start to wear on them. Obviously if we’re crashing, spacing the floor, it's going to make things tough on them definitely.

It's a long game. It's hard to compete like that for 48 minutes.