One Possession: The secret to unlocking hugs from Joe Mazzulla

One Possession: The secret to unlocking hugs from Joe Mazzulla originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

It’s been a sometimes confusing week for the Boston Celtics.

Derrick White looked baffled when he got MVP chants Tuesday night inside TD Garden while shooting free throws against the Brooklyn Nets. Payton Pritchard came to the sideline on Friday night after two dominating first-half stretches against the Chicago Bulls and found a smiling Joe Mazzulla waiting with a hug.

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Smiles and hugs? From Mazzulla?

It turns out the secret is pretty simple. Respond to the coach’s challenges, and you might just get an in-game squeeze.

Pritchard grabbed only three rebounds, but one in particular jumped out to us during his first-quarter takeover. Pritchard tracked a long rebound and launched himself between both teammate Hugo Gonzalez and Chicago’s super springy Matas Buzelis to secure the ball.

Pritchard then broke out the other way in transition, accelerated past one Bulls defender, and took a bump from another while delivering an and-one layup that had Boston out front 40-21.

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For the second time in a week, Pritchard had delivered a double-digit quarter against the Bulls. He finished the first quarter with 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting and added 2 steals on the defensive end. Pritchard went on to finish with a team-high 30 points on 9-of-17 shooting over 34:45.

“Joe challenged me and I feel like, in the first four games, my defensive activity and my rebounding has been poor,” said Pritchard. “So [Mazzulla was] challenging me to to step up in that area and I think the hug was for me to be like doing that and him being thankful I’m doing it … We’ve been through a lot together and so it’s just great to keep it going, and then I stepped up to the challenge in that area.”

Despite his size, Pritchard has routinely ranked as one of the best rebounders on the offensive glass for his position. He’s been a bit more middle of the pack among point guards on the defensive glass, but that rate has plummeted to a career-low 5.4 percent to start the 2026-27 season, or nearly half his career rate.

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That one…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/one-possession-secret-unlocking-hugs-145354281.html

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Publish date : 2026-10-31 14:53:00

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