Joe Mazzulla Highlights Overlooked Area Of Payton Pritchard's Game After Latest Win

Joe Mazzulla Highlights Overlooked Area Of Payton Pritchard's Game After Latest Win originally appeared on NESN . Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Boston Celtics picked up a 109-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night, even though they were without Jaylen Brown.

That was thanks in large part to a heroic effort from Payton Pritchard off the bench, as he led all scorers with 36 points. It's been a career year for Pritchard, who has continued to take on a bigger role on offense for the C's, even with the return of Jayson Tatum. And yet, Pritchard's scoring wasn't what caught head coach Joe Mazzulla's attention in this game.

Instead, Pritchard's rebounding stood out to him , as he hauled in a pair of particularly important offensive rebounds down the stretch of this one. "The two plays, the offensive rebounds that he got ... big time plays," Mazzulla said after the game.

"I thought the ball handling, handling the pressure ... two offensive rebounds that were huge for us ... He's not defined by scoring.