Patrick Beverley’s disrespectful gesture had Celtics fired up

Payton Pritchard played a big role in the Boston Celtics’ tough win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, and the point guard says Patrick Beverley deserves some credit for that.

Pritchard had one of his best games of the season with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists on 7/11 shooting. He went 5/8 from 3-point range. Pritchard’s best stretch of play came in the first half, right after Beverley hit a shot over Celtics big man Luke Kornet and taunted Kornet with the “too small” hand gesture.

Following Boston’s 122-119 win over the Bucks, Pritchard was asked if he took Beverley’s taunt personally. Pritchard admitted that the gesture inspired him to “bring more energy, more dog to it.”

“He was trying to clown one of our teammates, so, definitely took it a little personal,” Pritchard said.

Much of Pritchard’s scoring production came with Beverley defending him. He also made several plays on the

defensive end and ignited the crowd at TD Garden, which helped propel the Celtics to a victory. It also probably

helped Boston that Giannis Antetokounmpo sat with an injury.

Pritchard has taken on an expanded role this season after the Celtics parted ways with Marcus Smart. The way he

responded to the friendly trash talk from Beverley is a good sign for Boston heading into the stretch run and the playoffs.