Celtics Fans Will Love Payton Pritchard’s Quote On Taking No. 2 Seed From Knicks

The Boston Celtics won their fourth straight game on Monday, overcoming a poor shooting night to beat the Chicago Bulls 115-101 at TD Garden.

Meanwhile, the New York Knicks suffered their fourth straight loss, getting blown out by the Detroit Pistons on the road and falling to 23-13 on the season.

With the Celtics improving to 23-12, they passed the Knicks for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference — their best position in the standings so far this season.

It’s a remarkable accomplishment for a squad that many considered a borderline playoff team at the start of the season. Boston still hasn’t gotten a minute from Jayson Tatum yet, either, who’s missed the entire campaign with an Achilles injury.

While the Celtics have wildly surpassed expectations this year, Payton Pritchard isn’t satisfied with second place.

Payton Pritchard was asked how much pride the Celtics have for being in second place in the East given all the offseason changes:

“I take a lot of pride in being first.” pic.twitter.com/V3blZOCHwL

— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) January 6, 2026

“I take a lot of pride in being first,” Pritchard told reporters after Monday’s win. “So we still need some work to get to that point. That’s the main goal.”

Spoken like a true champion.

Boston remains 3.5 games behind the Pistons for the top seed in the Eastern Conference despite winning eight of its last nine games and 18 of its last 23. The Celtics will try to keep chipping away at that lead during the rest of their homestand this week with games against the Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs.

Passing Detroit won’t be easy, but if Tatum comes back soon, anything is possible.