NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. MAVERICKS

June 16, 2024

Payton Pritchard

Boston Celtics

Practice Day

Q. Game 5 tomorrow. How excited are you about playing here in the Garden?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: Very excited. We're excited to come out here and compete and try to get this W.

Q. What was that flight coming back on Friday night like?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: We came back Saturday morning. It was a nice flight. We already moved on from it. There's no reason to dwell on it. Get ready for Game 5 and try to get the W. The flight was good. We got together as a team, enjoyed it and get ready.

Q. I know you don't want this to be any longer than it has to be, but what goes through your mind whenever you think about winning your title here in front of your own home fans?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: It would be huge to win this next game. We really want to win the next game. But if we don't, it's not the end of the world. We have three more rounds to go, at (most). But the most important game is the next one, and to do it in front of the home crowd would be special.

Q. What kind of atmosphere are you anticipating?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: I'm expecting it to be rowdy. Definitely a crazy, crazy atmosphere. Looking forward to it.

Q. How helpful is last year's run against Miami in this situation where you guys were down 0-3 and the Mavs similarly are down 0-3, and you guys played with that desperation, and you kind of know the mentality that they have in this scenario?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: It just shows that teams are capable of coming back from that. If you get hot, you can win four games in a row. So understanding that, and knowing that every game we've got to bring everything we've got. It's going to take 48 minutes.

Q. What does Kristaps' presence do for this team?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: He's an unbelievable player. He's somebody we care for deeply and gives us a great boost. Him as a person, just being there is huge for us. We are lucky to have him.

Q. His personality, if you could peel back the curtain, this time of year, everybody wants to play. How much is he champing at the bit to get out there for Game 5?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: He definitely wants to play. He's a really big competitor, and I know he's going to do everything in his power to get out there and put on that uniform with his teammates.

Q. Is there anything that you can pinpoint that Dallas did differently in Game 4?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: They just beat us in every category possible: 50/50 balls, rebounding, shooting, defensively. It's like one of those games, you just scrap and look forward to the next one because they beat us fair and square.