Boston Celtics: Primetime Warriors win player grades

Boston Celtics Player Grades) Jabari Parker: B+

After being signed only 24 hours ago, Jabari Parker saw his first action as a Boston Celtic. In 16 minutes, he scored 11 points while hitting five of his six shot attempts. He had two turnovers on his first two possessions of the game, but settled down from there.

On offense, he excelled under the basket, grabbing offensive rebounds for easy put-backs. He acted as a wing-version of Enes Kanter – a good offensive rebounder and finisher around the rim, who has lots of trouble staying in front of people on defense.

The first half was rough, getting blown by on multiple occasions. However, he shown more bright signs in the second half, even forcing Steph Curry into a tough shot in an isolation possession. Additionally, coach Brad Stevens trusted him enough to place him in crunch lineups, seemingly gelling with the main unit particularly well.

Boston Celtics Player Grades) Payton Pritchard: B+

Payton Pritchard stepped up into the spotlight on Saturday night, hitting a few deep threes of his own. Scoring 11 points on 4-of-9 from the field and 3-of-6 from three, the rookie continues to impress as a reliable backup point guard.

With the best range on the roster, Pritchard has acted as a late-clock option on offense, as the defense rarely closes out quick enough to contest his 30-footers. In this one, he also hit a step-back three in the corner with two on the shot clock, competing with Steph for best shots of the night.

Payton has also crashed the glass extensively in recent weeks, grabbing two offensive boards in this one despite his small stature. He’s a winning player, and helped the Boston Celtics win their sixth game in a row.

Boston Celtics Player Grades) Grant Williams: D

This was a rough game for Grant Williams, often being switched onto Curry in the pick and roll. There’s only so much you can do when Steph is playing at the rate he is this past month, but Grant did not make it particularly difficult, awarding him free throws on pump fakes on occasion.

He is not built to guard players with that quickness and shooting ability in the open floor, and it showed. This led coach Stevens to opt for Parker in the closing minutes. However, with 24 minutes, he was the most present Celtic off the bench.

On the offensive side of the ball, it didn’t get much better, finishing with four points on 2-of-8 shooting. Similar to Ojeleye, if he’s not hitting his shot and not defending at a high level, Grant Williams it not a productive NBA player. Tonight, it simply wasn’t clicking.

Although some players played better than others, there’s no doubt that this was a fantastic short-handed win for the Boston Celtics.

They’ll try to make it seven in a row on Monday night against Chicago.