When it was announced that Payton Pritchard would be sitting out on the Boston Celtics’ bench with left ankle soreness, who would replace him in the starting lineup became the biggest question heading into Saturday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks.
The answer?
Baylor Scheierman, of course.
After playing just five minutes in Thursday’s win over the Miami Heat, the second-year swingman looked as comfortable as ever starting for the Cs.
First and foremost, let’s address the elephant in the room. Yes, this was a 48-minute beatdown, where the Celtics never remotely thought about letting go of the rope.
That doesn’t discount the effort that Boston got from Scheierman. They had to build their initial lead, after all.
The 25-year-old played his minor role as a starter quite well. He was ready when the ball came his way on offense, and brought the same, consistent defensive effort that the Celtics have seen from him in his minutes all season long.
Scheierman set himself up to have a nice night when he sank a no-dip three for Boston’s first bucket of the game. He did his job as a connector, too, setting up his teammates a few times in the first half. The highlight was an in-rhythm, kick-out pass to Sam Hauser for one of his 10 threes at State Farm Arena.
Baylor Scheierman’s passing is so fun pic.twitter.com/fkWgqYPSmO
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) January 18, 2026
It sounds small, maybe even obvious, but being able to simply do your job when your number is called is an important trait to have in the NBA. Especially for someone like Scheierman, who’s consistently fighting for more minutes in Joe Mazzulla’s rotation.
His effort hasn’t gone unnoticed, either. Mazzulla has taken the time to shout him out multiple times during his postgame press conferences this season.
Hard-working, high-IQ basketball is essential to Scheierman finding his way onto the floor for the Cs. He knows that.
“I’d probably just say defensively, just being a defensive playmaker and being able to use my instincts to impact the game in a positive way on that side of the ball,” Scheierman told reporters at Media Day when asked which part of his game would surprise people the most this season.
Scheierman brought the effort for the Celtics
Speaking of, the former Creighton standout tallied three steals in this one. His first came at a point where the Cs were on the cusp of completely breaking the game open. They had built a 14-point lead with about eight minutes remaining in the first half, when he poked the ball away from Hawks forward Jalen Johnson after helping on his blindside.
Boston took advantage of the turnover, ran in transition, and watched an Anfernee Simons three find the bottom of the net.
Simply put, Scheierman took a high-IQ gamble and it paid off for the Cs.
His effort on the glass shouldn't go unmentioned, either. His seven boards were helpful, especially considering that the Celtics struggled to close defensive possessions early on.
He finished the night with nine points, seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals in 32 minutes. His plus/minus would’ve been far better had he not been on the floor during garbage time when Boston let Atlanta cut the lead down to just 26.
Overall, Scheierman answered the call against the Hawks, and should see some more time in upcoming games.