Boston Celtics

Payton Pritchard, on a two-year Celtics extension he puts at $22 million a year, says he'd come off the bench if Joe Mazzulla wants: "to me a starter is the amount of minutes you play. Do you finish games? Are you playing 30+ minutes? Then you are a starter"

"I guess I didn't know that, uh, I upset the Celtic fans, so I apologize for that. It's never my intention." Joe Mazzulla, asked about saying on a podcast that his goal is to be forgotten, explained he sees his job as leaving the Celtics a little better than he found them.

Joe Mazzulla sprang a two-big-man lineup on his own Celtics: "The guys didn't know we were going to do it. We hadn't practiced it. The first time they knew was at the beginning of the quarter." He wanted it on film and expects better spacing if Boston uses it again.

Jordan Walsh has started the Celtics' last two games guarding the opponent's best player. Joe Mazzulla said he has done it well, "getting off to a good start defensively." On keeping the same lineup: "we'll just do what we did last time."

Neemias Queta off the dribble: Joe Mazzulla wants more of the Celtics center's playmaking. "That playmaking is an area that we'd like to see Neemias take to a little bit of a different level." On outside shooting, Mazzulla wants to empower him but still get the best shots.

Celtics rookie center Chris Cenac Jr. said Joe Mazzulla told him centers play "a big, big role in our offense." The staff's focus with him: "protecting the rim, block your sides, guarding, running the floor," and reading how defenses play the screens he sets.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum on Paul George: "It was like it was my first time playing with PG... all summer and training camp, we've always been on different teams." He modeled his game on George in high school: "I had to be like the first player in college to wear PG-1s"

Jayson Tatum says he is healthy after 16 months with his injury, a year after "not knowing when or if I was going to... be back on the court." The Celtics star admitted: "Maybe I took the start of the season for granted. I just always assumed I would be out there."

Mike Conley, entering his 20th season and yet to play for Joe Mazzulla, on his new Celtics coach: "for some guys, it could be very hard to play for Joe, I'm sure." The reason: how hard Mazzulla gets after players and how much he expects.

Jayson Tatum says this Celtics training camp feels different. A year ago, when he was still a long way from returning to the floor: "I would just be in the weight room the whole time watching the team practice."

Was there contact on Jayson Tatum's famous 2019 crossover of Paul George? The Celtics star admitted it: "Yeah, I stepped on his foot inadvertently." That was the season he first made All-Star and All-NBA, when he said he felt he was coming into his own.

Brad Stevens: Joe Mazzulla can pick among centers Mitchell Robinson, Neemias Queta and Luka Garza nightly by "who impacts the most," and with this depth "not everybody will have their expectations met every day." Paul George: "I don't have to be the one option."

Boston media availability: Paul George says "I feel like I've turned the corner now from the healthy standpoint." Brad Stevens calls Jayson Tatum the last player he worries about, and says late in the season he'll care more about being fresh and healthy than seeding.

Mike Conley said his role has shrunk with age: "be the voice, be a leader... I'm always going to be ready to go." Baylor Scheierman, asked if his trade was a bet on more opportunity, said maybe a little, adding he's "super confident about how I can help impact this team."

From Celtics media day: Jayson Tatum says he's healthy entering year 10 after missing most of last season. "Just 12 months ago... I didn't know if I was coming back last year." Watching beside the coaches, "the game slowed down for me even more so."