The Boston Celtics face a messy morning before Wednesday night’s home game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Payton Pritchard is listed as questionable with a right shoulder contusion, a bruise that landed on his shooting arm. This comes just one day after the team announced Jayson Tatum might sit for rest. The Celtics have two big rotation questions hanging over TD Garden before tipoff.
Pritchard dove for a loose ball against the Orlando Magic on Saturday and stayed in the contest. He “has been grabbing at his right shoulder — his shooting shoulder — ever since,” Celtics insider Marc D’Amico wrote. The guard played through the pain, going 3-for-11 with seven points in that loss. He followed that up with a rough night against the Houston Rockets, missing all seven field goal attempts and all five three-point tries. Pritchard entered Wednesday averaging 13.4 points, but he missed every single one of his 12 three-point attempts over those last two games.
Rest Or Risk With Tatum
Jayson Tatum is also questionable, but his listing is due to rest rather than injury. He has started all seven games this season since returning from Achilles surgery. Tatum scored 32 points against Orlando before struggling with just 19 points on 5-of-16 shooting against Houston. If he sits, this would be his first night off this season according to the Boston Herald. The team has already rested Paul George and Mitchell Robinson earlier in the week to manage their workload.
Coach Joe Mazzulla emphasized the need to use his whole roster during Monday’s postgame news conference. “Just take advantage of our depth. Take advantage of our variety,” Mazzulla said. He also noted that the team has “guys in different roles, be able to play in different ways.” These comments focused on Mitchell Robinson, but the message applies to everyone facing a tight schedule. In their loss to the Rockets, the Celtics managed just 43 points after halftime, showing they ran out of gas.
The Shooting Drought Hits Hard
The backcourt shooting was a major issue in the loss to Houston. Pritchard went scoreless on the field, but he was not alone in the struggle. Tatum addressed the broader issue, saying, “All of us missed shots, wide open shots, layups, open threes. It wasn’t just P, all of us had tough shooting nights. It’s 82 games, bound to happen sometimes.” The Celtics shot 12-for-42 from three-point range as a team.
An illness keeps Devin Carter out, and he has not played this season. The Celtics need their key rotation pieces healthy for a team like the Bucks. Pritchard’s status remains the primary uncertainty because a contusion is a soft-tissue bruise instead of a structural injury. Nov. 4 is the estimated return date listed by RotoWire, which aligns with Wednesday night.
