Celtics Notes: Pritchard, Brown, Scheierman, Tatum

Celtics guard Payton Pritchard remained in a reserve role Friday night, even though Jaylen Brown was out of the lineup with Achilles tendinitis, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe writes in a subscriber-only story. Pritchard, who has gotten comfortable coming off the bench since coach Joe Mazzulla restructured his starting lineup in early February, helped erase a 16-point deficit and finished with 36 points in Boston’s 109-102 victory over Atlanta.

“I don’t think my role changed from any other night,” he said. “Just come out being aggressive, looking to make plays for my teammates or for myself, and just make the right reads.”

Pritchard’s willingness to move to the bench after being a regular starter for the first time in his career is emblematic of what has enabled the Celtics to vastly exceed expectations this season. While his scoring outburst was critical on Friday, Mazzulla pointed to effort plays that helped secure the win, including an important offensive rebound with just over three minutes left in the game after the Hawks cut the lead to four points.

“It’s just those big-time plays for us,” Mazzulla said. “And he’s not defined by scoring, so that helps us a lot when he does other things.”

There’s more from Boston:

• Mazzulla told reporters that Brown should be considered day-to-day, relays Brian Robb of MassLive. Brown received medical treatment earlier in the day before the decision was made to hold him out. “He was just a little banged up after Wednesday’s game,” Mazzulla said. Brown is listed as questionable for Sunday’s contest at Charlotte.
• In a season where several players have overachieved, Baylor Scheierman has been the team’s most surprising contributor, Robb states in a mailbag column. The second-year guard struggled with his shot in limited playing time as a rookie, but he’s been much more reliable this season, connecting at 45.3% from the floor and 38.5% from three-point range.
• Jayson Tatum has been putting up good numbers, but he remains frustrated that he’s not as far along in his comeback as he hoped to be, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (subscription required). Tatum discussed the process after posting 26 points, 12 rebounds and five assists on Friday. “I feel rusty,” he said. “Obviously, you probably can see the moments when it doesn’t look the same or I look rusty, but I think just the mindset of, on to the next play. I’m thankful that I’ve got teammates and a coaching staff that are patient with me in this moment as I’m trying to just figure it out.”