Payton Pritchard Pushes Back On Celtics Narrative Before Finals

The Celtics’ dominant NBA playoffs run continued Monday night, but there is a group of folks who still aren’t totally bought in on Boston.

Most of those still hesitant to put the Celtics on a pedestal maintain the resistance due to Boston’s postseason path. Joe Mazzulla’s side ripped through a somewhat weak Eastern Conference, and each of the Celtics’ first three playoff opponents dealt with a troubling injury to their best player.

Boston made even quicker work of Indiana than it did of Cleveland and Miami, but the Eastern Conference finals at least saw the C’s grind out hard-fought wins over the Pacers. NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin after Game 4 asked Payton Pritchard if he felt the Celtics were now sufficiently battle-tested via the sweep, to which the fourth-year guard responded with a counter.

“I think we’ve been battled-tested,” Pritchard told Chin. “I just think it’s something the media and other people always want to throw out there about us. We’ve been going through this whole year and years in the past, we’ve gone through a lot. So, I think we’re ready for this moment.”

These Celtics certainly aren’t lacking in experience. The majority of players in Mazzulla’s rotation dealt with the tough blows of coming up two wins shy of a championship in 2022 and one victory short of a return to the NBA Finals last season. For so many reasons, it feels like the time is now for the C’s to raise an 18th banner at TD Garden.

The Celtics will have to wait a bit for their chance to take another step toward a title, though, as the Finals don’t kick off until June 6.