Payton Pritchard on Game 2 vs. the Knicks: ‘It’s really like a must-win game’

For the first time in the NBA’s current playoff format (which has existed since 1984), the road teams went 4-0 in Game 1 of the second round of the playoffs. The Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks all got off to strong starts to their respective series away from home.

Maybe the home team that was closest to a Game 1 victory was none other than the defending champion Boston Celtics. After all, the Celtics lost in overtime by just three points, and Boston relinquished a 20-point lead in the second half.

In light of the Celtics letting go of the rope late in Game 1, Boston guard Payton Pritchard, who was just recently crowned the league’s Sixth Man of the Year, said that he sees Wednesday’s Game 2 as a “must-win game” for his team.

Pritchard is the fourth Celtic ever to win the award and the second Boston player to win it this decade. Guard Malcolm Brogdon won the award in the 2022-23 campaign.

However, the Sixth Man of the Year may not have been aggressive enough looking for his own shot in the Celtics’ Game 1 loss. He finished with 13 points off the pine but attempted only six shots.

NBA history suggests that Game 2 is indeed more or less a must-win contest for the Celtics, as teams that have taken a 2-0 lead in a series have gone on to advance 92.7 percent of the time.

Boston also has an all-time series record of just 1-3 when it has lost the first two games at home. The Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs despite dropping the opening two games at TD Garden.

But folks should maybe expect Pritchard and the Celtics to respond on Wednesday with a win to even up the series, as Boston is 4-0 in the playoffs following a loss dating back to last season and won those contests by an average of 15 points.

Whether or not the Celtics share Pritchard’s view that it’s a must-win game could be revealed by how well Boston plays to start the contest.