Celtics quickly learning newest superpower and it might be over for the NBA

There may not have been a better way for the Boston Celtics to come out of the All-Star break than the way they handled the Golden State Warriors on Thursday. Boston dominated the Warriors and held off a late comeback attempt for a 121-110 victory at Chase Center.

They led by double digits for the entire second half, and at one point held a 34-point advantage. Early on, it didn’t always look like that was going to be the case.

Golden State held their own in the first quarter, trailing by just four after the opening frame. It wasn’t until what’s quickly becoming the best bench in the league truly got rolling that the game blew open.

Payton Pritchard continued the absolute tear he’s been on since returning to the bench earlier this month  -- a move that came as a result of the Nikola Vucevic trade. Since the move, he’s averaged 22.5 points and 6.2 assists per game on 52/43% shooting splits.

The numbers do enough talking, but the reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year  made it clear he’s comfortable in whichever role he plays.

“The starting thing is kinda pointless, cause, like, in a way, I probably play more minutes,” Pritchard explained in the locker room postgame. “I actually would rather play longer stints like that.”

He totalled 26 points, seven assists, and six rebounds in the win.

“Regardless of if Payton is coming off the bench or not, he just plays at a level,” Joe Mazzulla praised after the win. “ I mean, he just has the ability to impact the game in different ways. So it doesn't matter where he's at in the rotation, he's going to impact both ends of the floor.”

Pritchard and Vucevic helped build Boston's big lead against the Warriors

He and Vucevic have developed a nice chemistry, and give the Celtics a significant boost when they check into games, like Thursday in the second quarter.

Pritchard got going and scored 13 of his 26 points on the night, on an efficient 5-6 from the field. Vucevic chipped in seven of his own, as the Celtics ran away from the Warriors. The impact spans beyond scoring, though. Boston havings two starting-caliber guys they can just roll into games once Jaylen Brown or Derrick White takes a breather, is like a super power.

Both reserves play a fluid game. They can look to score, but most times will make whatever they believe is the right play. On a night where Vucevic had zero assists, you could still feel his impact on the team’s ball movement because of plays like these.

The big man found Sam Hauser in the corner, which caused the Warriors to rotate off of Pritchard who drilled an open three.

“Vuc, you know, he's just continuing [to get acclimated]-- It's the balance like, ‘this is what we need from you. This is how we can make things easier for you,’” Mazzulla explained postgame. “I think you're seeing the relationship on the court just kind of grow whether, you know, we found him on some duck ins, we found him on some situations there, and his reads versus coverages, his reads versus different screens, are just getting better, and that really impacts him, and it helps other guys as well.”

Vucevic was a +29 at halftime. Pritchard was a +26. These numbers look crazy, but shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise. In Vuc’s first four games as a Celtic, he and Pritchard have a net rating of +12.9 when they share the court. Mind you, this factors in the Feb. 8 loss to the New York Knicks, where neither of them looked good and had rough plus/minus numbers.

They’ve played major roles in multiple big runs for Boston, including Thursday’s second-quarter explosion and the massive comeback against the Miami Heat in Vucevic’s debut game.

“I mean, Vuc is an unbelievable player. He's been a starter in this league, so it's maybe his first time coming off the bench for a long time,” Pritchard said of Vucevic. “Like not starting the game is kind of meaningless. Like, he is a starter, and he comes in and plays like a starter, and he helps our team tremendously.”

The starter-level lift that Boston gets from both men is a difference maker, clearly. It’s a small sample size, but so far, it seems like the Celtics have depth that no other Eastern Conference team has, and it makes them dangerous.