BOSTON — The Celtics couldn’t seem to get out of their own way. They weren’t getting it done defensively, and their frustration with the officiating was painfully apparent late in the third quarter, with Jayson Tatum and Grant Williams barking at the refs in a game that was in danger of getting away from them.
They needed another spark, as they’ve tended to require at various points early this season. Then coach Joe Mazzulla offered yet another reminder of his team’s incredible depth with an unlikely move that paid game-changing dividends.
Down on the end of the bench, Mazzulla called for Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet, neither of whom had played Friday night and had played minimal minutes over the last week. And of course, it worked. After trailing for much of the third quarter, the duo of Pritchard and Kornet was exactly the boost the Celtics needed as they turned a close game into a laugher in a 122-104 victory over the Kings.
